YSR Congress MPs decline to reconsider resignations

Five Lok Sabha MPs of the YSR Congress on Wednesday met Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to convey that they stand by their resignations and urged her to accept the same immediately.

The MPs had submitted their resignations on April 6 -- the last day of Budget session -- to protest against the refusal of the central government to accord Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.

As the Speaker on May 29 had requested the MPs to reconsider their resignations, they met her in the national capital on Wednesday to submit fresh letters, urging her to accept their resignations.

YSR Congress Parliamentary Party leader Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy told reporters after the meeting that they conveyed to the Speaker that there is no change in their decision. They replied in affirmative when she wanted to know if this is their final decision.

The other MPs are Y.V. Subba Reddy, Vara Prasadarao Velagapalli, Midhun Reddy and Y.S. Avinash Reddy. They also urged the Speaker to disqualify three MPs who crossed over to Telugu Desam Party (TDP) after getting elected on YSR Congress tickets.

Claiming that YSR Congress is the only party sincerely fighting for Special Category Status, they said after their resignations are accepted by the Speaker, they will go to people to mobilise support for the struggle.

Meanwhile, YSR Congress President Y.S. Jagamohan Reddy has said that TDP is afraid of by-elections. He predicted that in case of by-elections, TDP candidates will lose the deposit and the people will teach the party a lesson for opposing Special Category Status.

Talking to reporters during his ongoing 'padyatra' in West Godavari district, Jagan, as the leader is popularly known, said if all 25 MPs of the state had resigned, this would have put pressure on the Centre.

He was all praise for his MPs for sacrificing their posts 14 months before the end of their term and slammed TDP for questioning their sincerity even after they submitted their resignations.

--IANS

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