YSRCP President Jagan Mohan Reddy is now seeking an intervention from the President in the matter of his party MLAs defecting to the ruling TDP. In a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind written on Friday, Jagan accused Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu of ‘unethical and unconstitutional practice of masterminding defections’, and requested the President to intervene in the matter and ‘stop this mockery’.
The party has also passed a resolution to boycott the Assembly, as Jagan informed the President in his letter. “YSR Congress Legislature Party at their meeting held on 26th October 2017 at Hyderabad resolved unanimously not to attend the AP state Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council proceedings till their demand for disqualification of 21 (now 20) MLAs and 1 MLC who have defected from YSRCP to the ruling TDP in the full glare of media is immediately acted upon by the Honourable Speaker, AP State Legislative Assembly, and Honourable Chairman, AP Legislative Council, as per the provisions of the 10th Schedule to the Constitution of India and the Chief Minister drops the 4 ministers viz Sri Adinarayana Reddy, Sri RV Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao, Sri N Amarnath Reddy and Ms Bhuma Akhila Priya whose names still figure in the list of YSRCP MLAs as per the official records of AP Legislative Assembly,” the resolution said.
21 MLAs and 1 MLC from YSRCP have defected to the TDP last year, and as many as four of them were given ministerial berths, including Bhuma Akhila Priya, Amarnath Reddy, Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao and Adinarayana Reddy. None of these lawmakers resigned their MLA posts before switching over, and an irked YSRCP has been demanding action under the anti-defection law (Schedule 10 of the Constitution).
Earlier Jagan Mohan Reddy demanded the disqualification of the defectors from the Speaker as well, saying, "Discharge your constitutional duties and disqualify the 21 MLAs, who jumped over to the TDP from my party and see that the new Legislature opens without any blot."
He accused the ruling party of "purchasing" lawmakers; he had also levelled criticism against Speaker for his alleged mockery of democracy.
According to the 10th Schedule of the Constitution lawmakers who defect can be disqualified. Under this law, an MLA or an MP who votes against the ‘whip’ will be disqualified from the House. A ‘whip’ is a party directive on which way the MLAs and MPs must vote - and anyone who goes against it will face action.