Irked by stalled bills, YSRCP mulls scrapping Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council
The three-day special Winter Session of the Assembly, that begins Monday, is being held to approve the report of the ‘high-powered committee’ that was formed to look into the decentralization of AP’s capital.
HYDERABAD : Miffed at stalled bills in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) plans to scrap the state’s Upper House.
At present, the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), led by former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, has an absolute majority in the Council. The YSRCP has accused the TDP of stalling bills passed by the Assembly.
The three-day special Winter Session of the Assembly, that begins Monday, is being held to approve the report of the ‘high-powered committee’ that was formed to look into the decentralization of AP’s capital.
Chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had made public his intention to have the state’s executive capital at Visakhapatnam, legislative capital at Amaravati and judicial capital at Kurnool, as against Naidu’s original plan to develop Amaravati as a global city.
The YSRCP will not dissolve the legislative council as about 20 seats will get vacant in a year’s time, said a TDP leader on condition of anonymity. “Two-thirds of the assembly’s majority is required to scrap the council, and the YSRCP can do it easily. But Jagan won’t do it as there are many in the YSRCP who are waiting to get tickets for the council," he added.
Out of the 58 seats in the AP legislative council, the TDP has 28 members, while the YSRCP has nine and the Bharatiya Janata Party has two. Rest of the seats are divided between independent members and nominated members, while three seats are vacant. In the assembly, however, the YSRCP has 151 members out of 175, while the TDP has just 22. One MLA quit the party and resigned last year.
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