Speaker Rejects T MPs' Resignations

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Tuesday rejected the resignations of 12 MPs from the Telangana region, who had put down their papers demanding statehood for the region.

However, there was confusion over the status of the resignation submitted by Bhongir MP Komatireddy Rajagopal.

The MPs who submitted resignations on 4 July for the cause of Telangana include 9 from the Congress party and 2 each from the TDP and TRS. The resignations were not accepted as they were not in the correct format.

Sources say that these MPs, who had supposedly resigned, have signed Lok Sabha documents and attended meetings, with a few even having gone abroad in the capacity of Lok Sabha MPs.

These acts were believed to have led the Speaker to assume that the MPs were not serious about their resignations.

Of the 12 MPs, 8 belong to the Congress and 2 each from TDP and TRS.

The Congress MPs whose resignations were rejected by the Speaker are Ponnam Prabhakar, G S Reddy, M Jagannath, S Rajaiah, P Balram Nayak, G Vivekanand, Suresh Shetkar and Madhu Goud Yakshi.

The resignations of TDP MPs Ramesh Rathod and Nama Nageswara Rao and TRS MPs K Chandrashekar Rao and Vijayashanti have also been rejected.

The Speaker conveyed her decision to the MPs through the Parliament's Joint Secretary.

On 12 October, 8 Congress MPs were summoned by the Speaker to seek a clarification on their resignations.

Earlier, there were reports that the Speaker also rejected the resignation of Congress MP Mekapati Rajamohan, who resigned in protest against the inclusion of former chief minister late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s name in the CBI probe into Jagan's alleged illegal assets. However, the report was neither confirmed nor denied by the Speaker's office. (INN)