Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has called for a cabinet meeting with all his ministers on Monday, to discuss the fate of the state's Legislative Council.
The government is expected to move a resolution to abolish the Legislative Council on the floor of the Assembly.
A day after the Council had referred the ruling YSRCP's Bills to decentralise the capital to a select committee, Jagan, on Thursday, had dropped clear hints that the Upper House of the state legislature could be abolished.
As per the procedure, the Assembly will have to adopt the resolution with a two-thirds majority and send it to the Centre, where it will need the Parliament's approval. The YSRCP hopes that the BJP-led Centre would pass a Bill to this effect in the Budget Session of Parliament, scheduled for February.
According to reports, the Centre presently has Bills from Rajasthan, Odisha and Assam to revive their Councils, which are pending. If the Union government decides to pass the Bill from Andhra Pradesh, they may also have to agree to the demands of the other three states.
Meanwhile, the Opposition, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), has lashed out at Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy for the proposal. While the YSRCP has a brute majority of 151 out of 175 seats in the Assembly, the TDP has a majority in the Council with 28 seats.
A TDP delegation, led by former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, met Andhra Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan over the issue on Friday.
Speaking to reporters, Naidu said, "If the Chief Minister abolishes the Council, we will restore it when we come back to power."
Ironically, the TDP has always lobbied for the abolishment of the Council. On May 31, 1985, after TDP founder and former chief minister NT Rama Rao came to power, he had abolished the Council, claiming that it was redundant and caused a drain on the state exchequer.
In a turn of events, it was Jagan's father and former CM YS Rajasekhar Reddy who revived the Council, after a gap of 22 years, in 2007.