Overwhelmed by the prospect of having to face byelections, more legislators left the camp of YSR Congress leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, refusing to vote against the government during Monday’s vote on the Telugu Desam-sponsored no-confidence motion.
Mr Katasani Rambhupal Reddy and Mr C. Adinarayana Reddy attended the meeting called by Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday and told him to his face that they could not follow his diktat of voting against the government.
Later, Ms Kunja Satyavati returned to the Congress camp, leaving just 20 MLAs in the rebel camp. More legislators could return to the parent party by the time the vote is taken up.
The biggest fear of the legislators is that if they defy the party whip and vote against the government, they will be disqualified, leading to byelections.
The Congress and the Telugu Desam will be waiting for just such an opportunity to squeeze the Jagan group between their combined might. Two main parties of the state could indulge in a bit of quiet match-fixing to defeat the Jagan group candidates; both the parties, for their own reasons, are eager to cut Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy down to size.
Besides, there is no guarantee that in the unlikely event of the Congress losing the no-trust vote — the government has the numbers to pull through — there will be a mid-term poll. The Congress as the largest group can still stake claim as the largest group if it ever comes to that.
The Jagan group is telling its MLAs that the defeat of the government would mean mid-term elections. That is not true.
Number in rebel camp dwindles
Mr K. Rambhupal Reddy and Mr C. Adinarayana Reddy attended the meeting called by Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and told him to his face that they could not follow his diktat of voting against the government. Ms Kunja Satyavati returned to the Congress camp, leaving just 20 MLAs in the rebel camp.