Testing times ahead for Kiran
Hyderabad: The decision of Speaker Nadendla Manohar to disqualify the 16 Congress MLAs was not unexpected. He also announced the acceptance of the resignation tendered by Sobha Nagi Reddy who belonged to the erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party.
That the Speaker has followed a time-table that suited the ruling party is a moot point.
Nadendla Manohar obviously waited for the scrutiny of nominations in the bye-elections to be completed on Thursday and the action had to be taken before the notification for the Rajya Sabha elections is announced.
The notification to fill the six RS seats in the State is expected on Monday. Once the notification is issued, the rebel MLAs would be on a stronger wicket and they could question the Speaker's action in a court of law.
They could even put up a candidate to embarrass the Congress leadership. To avoid such a contingency, the Speaker made a mid-night decision to disqualify the loyalists of YSR Congress Party.
The summer is going to be too hot for the chief minister. The seven constituencies where bye-elections are going to take place are not likely to return many Congress candidates.
The seventeen seats that would fall vacant due to the decision of the Speaker were all won by the Congress party in 2009.
The rebel MLAs have been demanding that action be taken against them so that the bye-elections are held sooner than later.
Except a few MLAs like Srikant Reddy, most of them give the impression that they are itching for a battle.
The Lok Sabha seat of Nellore also became vacant as Speaker Meira Kumar had accepted the resignation of Congress member Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy.
The Nellore Lok Sabha constituency has two assembly segments represented by two ministers, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy and Mahipal Reddy.
They are not likely to save the seat for the party. The seniors in the Congress who are unhappy with Kiran Kumar Reddy expect most of the 17 constituencies, if not all, to return YSR Congress Party candidates.
The chief minister would be happy if the bye-elections for the 17 seats are held after June.
In the meeting of the executive committee of the Congress Legislature Party on Friday morning, Kiran Kumar Reddy said the party should gear up for three elections that are in the offing.
He listed them as elections to the co-operative bodies, municipalities and the 17 assembly seats, in that order.
Rashtrapati election is slated to be held on June 25. All the vacancies in the legislatures are usually filled before the elections to the post of the president.
But then it is the discretion of the Election Commission whether to hold elections before the Presidential elections or later.
This is going to be a major test for the chief minister since the bye-elections are seen as a semi-finals for the general elections in 2014.
With Telugu Desam Party flexing its muscle what with its leader Chandrababu Naidu coming back strongly with his campaign against the government; and YS Jaganmohan Reddy being constantly on the campaign mode in the name of 'Odarupu Yatra', the Congress is in an unenviable position.
The group rivalries in the ruling party and the spate of corruption charges in the illegal liquor trade engulfing the ministers and party leaders make it extremely difficult for the Congress to give a semblance of fight in the bye-elections whenever they are held.
The chief minister has little time to set the house in order and prepare for the future battles.
It would be challenge for the young chief minister who requires a lot of courage and skills to meet it squarely.
It is also a major test for YS Jaganmohan Reddy, another young leader from Rayalaseema, who had to launch his own party after the post of chief minister was denied to him.
News Posted: 2 March, 2012
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