Leaders of the YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh met with Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasad Rao on Sunday and submitted a memorandum that demanded the immediate disqualification of the 22 MLAs who had defected to the ruling TDP.
The delegation was led by party general secretary and MP V Vijaya Sai Reddy.
Speaking to reporters, the YSRCP said that it would attend the state's Budget session in the Assembly, due to begin on March 6, only if the defectors were disqualified.
“As per Schedule X of the Constitution, disqualification petitions should be disposed of. If the Speaker does it, our party MLAs, after participating in the protest in New Delhi on March 5, will be attending the Assembly from March 6 onwards,” Vijaya Sai Reddy was quoted as saying.
In April last year, YSRCP chief Jaganmohan Reddy met with then President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi over the issue of defected party legislators being inducted into the Andhra cabinet, days after he also submitted a letter to Governor ESL Narasimhan, seeking immediate action on the issue.
Stating that Naidu had "no respect for the constitution and the democratic spirit", Jagan alleged that the TDP was welcoming defectors with open arms, on the assurance that they would not be disqualified.
Meanwhile, both the TDP and the YSRCP are all set to protest at the Parliament and disrupt proceedings, over what the 'injustice' to Andhra Pradesh in the recently presented Union Budget.
Stepping up the ante against the Centre, the YSRCP said that it will move a no-confidence motion in Parliament on March 21, demanding that Andhra be accorded special category status (SCS).
“We are prepared to move the no-trust vote on March 21 to show to the nation as to who stands where on the SCS issue and how the promises made during the division of the state were simply traded for personal gains by (Chief Minister) Chandrababu Naidu. We will demand that the 22 legislators and 3 MPs who crossed over should resign to upkeep the value system of the democracy," Jagan was quoted as saying.