Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress five MPs resigned from the Lok Sabha over the Andra Pradesh's special status protest against the Centre over its failure. A group of around 17 parties, including Congress and TDP on Thursday had organized a protest and formed a human chain in the Parliament premises.
The protest was over the various issues such as the “failure” of the NDA government to run Parliament and grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
The five MPs who resigned from Lok Sabha are, V Vara Prasada Rao, YV Subba Reddy, PV Midhum Reddy, YS Avinash Reddy and Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy. They met speaker Sumitra Mahajan to submit their resignation letter after the lower house was adjourned sine dine. Friday was the last day of the budget session.
“Resignation letters will be submitted in a proper format. There is enough time to conduct by-elections…. We would fight the polls and again continue our demand for special category status,” party MP Varaprasad Rao Velagapalli had said. Velagapalli has also accused PM Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu of “disrespecting democracy”.
“YSRCP has given notices for a no-confidence motion 12 times and not even once it was taken up for discussion,” Velagapalli said a day earlier.
“Naidu began fighting for special category status out of sheer pressure from the people as our leader has been ramping up pressure on him on the issue. He had no option but to quit the NDA,” another YSRCP MP Mekapati Raja Mohan Reddy said.
On Naidu’s claims of the nexus between the YSRCP and the BJP, he said, “Naidu is trying to club our party with the BJP. This is unfair. The TDP was in alliance with the BJP for four years and now they are blaming us.”
According to a report in Financial Express, the five MPs had announced their decision to resign from the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The MPs had said that they are outraged as their notices for a no-confidence motion against the NDA government could not be taken up for discussion in the House.