Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Friday that his party has no objection in moving a no-confidence motion against the state government if the need arises but was reluctant to do so at the behest of the YSR Congress.

“They want to blackmail the Congress to ensure release of Jagan from jail,” he said.

TD to ignore YSRC push

The Kiran Kumar Reddy government faces the prospect of a second No- Confidence Motion amidst high drama being enacted by Opposition parties especially the Telugu Desam and the YSR Congress.

TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu announced on Friday that his party has no objection to moving the motion if the need arises for the sake of the people of the state who have been suffering under Congress rule. But he was reluctant to do so at the behest of the YSR Congress.

“They (the YSR Congress) want to blackmail the Congress on this pretext and seek favours from the government and ensure release of Jagan Mohan Reddy from jail. We don’t encourage such things. We will not play to their tune,” he said.

On Thursday, YSR Congress’ M.V. Mysoora Reddy had publicly asked the TD leadership to move the No-Confidence Motion since it is the principal Opposition party, and its president Mr Naidu has been saying publicly that the Kiran Kumar Reddy government cannot continue even for a minute.

Dr Mysoora Reddy also said that if the TD moves the motion, the YSRC will support it. If the TD has any difficulty, the YSRC will move the motion and the TD should support it, he said.

Reacting to this, Mr Naidu, during his padayatra in Chevella in Ranga Reddy district, said on Friday evening, “The YSR Congress is demanding No-Confidence Motion to be moved by TD. Those leaders (YSR Congress) do not even know the basics of the motion. It cannot be moved according to their wishes when they demand. It can be moved only during an Assembly session. We know their intention in demanding such a motion. We will not play to their tune.”

He said that if the need arises, the TD will move a No Confidence Motion on its own as it had done earlier against the governments of Marri Chenna Reddy, Kotla Vijayabhasakar Reddy, and YSR and also against Speaker K. Suresh Reddy.

“We need not be told what we have to do. We do it always for the people’s sake. We will do it again if the people demand it from us,” Mr Naidu declared.

Mr Naidu also said that if the YSRC is so determined to dislodge the government, it should get a few Congress MLAs to approach the Governor and withdraw support.

In a related development, Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao reacted to the No Confidence Motion issue by saying he would support it in order to ensure that the Congress is voted out in the Assembly.

The last Assembly ended on September 22, so the House must meet on or before March 22, 2013, to fill the statutory requirement of not exceeding six months between two sessions.

The House has a present strength of 295 members (including nominated members). With the Speaker enjoying only the casting vote in the event of a tie, the effective voting strength is 293 (TD MLA Suman Rathod is ineligible to vote as per a Supreme Court order). For the government to survive a No Confidence Motion, the ruling party must muster a strength of 147 (excluding the Speaker).

Since the Majlis party, which has seven MLAs, has already announced it will support any motion to defeat the Congress, the ruling establishment has no other ally to come to its rescue. Not counting the Speaker, the Congress has a strength of 155 MLAs. The opposition has a combined strength of 138.

When a similar motion by the TD was put to vote last time round, in December 2011, the ruling party survived thanks to the 17-member Praja Rajyam party. Sixteen Congress MLAs switched sides and supported the motion and were later disqualified for violating the party whip.

Given the present gap of 17 MLAs between the ruling party and the opposition, all it needs is for the opposition, especially the YSR Congress, to 'manage' a minimum of nine Congress MLAs to switch sides, and the fall of the government will be certain.