YSR Congress No-Trust Move Over Speaker Too Fails

The no-confidence motion tabled by Leader of Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Y S Jaganmohan Reddy against Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao was rejected once again in the Assembly after a discussion on Tuesday.

In the voting held after the discussion, 97 members voted against the motion and 57 voted in its favour. None was neutral.

It may be mentioned here that on Monday, too, a no-confidence motion moved by the YSR Congress Party against the Chandrababu Naidu government was rejected. Today's motion against the Speaker, too, met the same fate in the AP Assembly.

With these, the efforts of the YSR Congress Party supremo have come to naught. Reddy reportedly moved the no-trust motion against the Speaker to cause the disqualification of the eight members who were elected on a YSRCP ticket in the 2014 Assembly elections but crossed over to the ruling TDP recently. With the defeat of both the no-confidence motions - against the government and the Speaker - the YSRCP chief's hopes have been belied.

Earlier, Jagan said that as per the norms the discussion on the motion should take place only after 14 days as that much time was offered for issuing a whip to the members. He also alleged that ruling Party was trying to protect eight of his MLAs who had joined it.

The discussion started with Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao saying that he should not be in the chair when a notice of no-confidence was moved against him. Hence he vacated the seat and Deputy Speaker Mandali Buddhaprasad occupied the chair.

Initiating the discussion on a no-confidence motion against the Speaker, YSRCP member Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy alleged that the ruling Party's members were using objectionable language in the House and were also threatening the Opposition members. He said that a no-confidence motion was moved against the Speaker because YSRCP member R K Roja had been suspended from the House for a year "illegally and undemocratically". The Speaker was also unwilling to point out the mistakes committed by the ruling Party members, and was also violating norms of the House. Hence the no-confidence motion, he said.

TDP member Goutu Shyam Sunder Shivaji said that the Assembly Speaker's post had a certain sanctity. Rejecting the charges made by the Opposition alleging partisan behavior by the Speaker, Shivaji said that the Speaker was giving equal importance to all the members in the House, and that such an allegation was unwarranted.

BJP member Vishnukumar Raju, too, said that the motion against the presiding officer of the House was unfortunate. Stating that Speaker Sivaprasada Rao had done many good things, Raju said that the no-confidence motion against the Speaker had pained him very much.

AP Legislative Affairs Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said that it was not proper to level baseless allegations against the Speaker, and that it was also against the traditions. Yanamala said that it had become a habit for the Leader of Opposition to give notices and retract. Even the YSRCP MLAs had lost confidence in their leader, he said. Jagan, who talked about norms and rules, had also again failed to affix his signature on the notice given against the Speaker, Yanamala pointed out, and demanded an explanation on this. On Monday, too, Jagan had not signed on the notice given against the State government, he pointed out.

Another minister Achennaidu said that the Speaker was giving utmost respect to the Opposition members in the House. There was no sense of proportion in moving a no-confidence motion against the Speaker in return for the suspension of YSRCP member Roja from the House, he said. There should be far more concrete grounds for moving such a motion against the Speaker of the Assembly, he averred.

YSRCP member Gopireddy Srinivas Reddy, and ministers Palle Raghunath Reddy and Kamineni Srinivas also participated in the discussion.