Deputy Speaker Raghuramakrishna Raju has strongly criticized former Chief Minister and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s insistence on opposition status, calling it a ‘childish act’. With the assembly monsoon sessions starting in two weeks, he lamented that YSRCP members are boycotting the assembly sessions in the name of opposition status.
Raju made it clear that according to the assembly rules, only a party that wins 10 percent of the seats gets opposition status. That is, it has to win at least 18 seats. But even if the YSRCP does not have the required number of seats, he advised that it is unnecessary to insist on opposition status.
“Jaganmohan Reddy’s behavior looks like a child. He is well aware of the assembly rules. However, insisting is an attempt to deceive the people of the state,” he said. He said that granting opposition status is not within their purview, and that it will be decided entirely according to the rules.
Moreover, Raghurama warned that if YSRCP MLAs boycott the assembly sessions by not attending them, then by-elections will be inevitable in their constituencies. He recalled the legislators that if they are absent from the House for 60 consecutive days, their membership will be automatically cancelled. He criticized that not coming to the House means showing negligence towards the people of their constituency.
Raghurama said that as Deputy Speaker, he wants YSRCP members to actively participate in the activities of the House. “However, if they do not come to the House and want to boycott it, it is as if they are preparing for a by-election. That is their decision. There is nothing we can do about it”, he said.
In these circumstances, Raju said that a by-election for the Pulivendula constituency will be mandatory. He suggested that even without opposition status, they can put forward their arguments in the House and raise the problems of the people. However,he wondered that the YSRCP is arguing that without opposition status, their voice will be suppressed.
