HYDERABAD: Bidding adieu to tradition, YSRC has decided to field its candidate in the by-election for Nandyal assembly seat whenever it is announced, regardless of the fact that its MLA Bhuma Nagi Reddy died of heart attack a couple of days ago.
The practice that all the political parties have been following is that if a sitting MLA dies while in office, the seat should be left to the family members of the legislator to win it unopposed. “Nandyal is our seat. We are going to field our candidate,” said YSRC chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy, bringing down the curtain on speculation that he may leave the seat uncontested for the benefit of the family of Bhuma.
The departure from tradition is on account of the fact that Bhuma won the seat on YSRC ticket but joined TDP recently, much to the chagrin of the YSRC chief. Since Nandyal is represented by YSRC MLA in the Assembly, it is only natural that YSRC candidate should represent it now. Since Bhuma happens to be in TDP camp now, YSRC is not kind to his family.
Gives condolence motion a miss Jagan did not take part in the discussion on condolence motion for Bhuma in the Assembly though he was very much present. “I did not go into the House because If I have to speak about him, I would have to speak about his betrayal too which may not sound appropriate since it is condolence motion. I did not want my words about his mistakes go into Assembly records.
I wanted only tributes paid by the members go into the records,” he said. Jagan was very critical of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for ‘luring’ Bhuma into the TDP with false promises.
“In fact when our leaders met Bhuma a day before he was to join TDP to persuade him to reconsider his decision, the latter said that within three days he was going to become a minister. This is how Naidu had created hopes in Bhuma though he knew that it was not possible since the latter was elected to the Assembly on YSRC ticket. Bhuma, who thought he would be minister in three days, had to wait for nearly an year leading a life of tension. As Bhuma already had two heart attacks, the third one which he suffered on Sunday took his life,” he said.
Recalling the death of Shobha Nagi Reddy in an accident after polling in 2014 Assembly elections, Jagan said Naidu was reluctant to include in the Assembly agenda condolence motion for her. Naidu had relented only after YSRC MLAs G Srikanth Reddy and Chevireddy Bhaskara Reddy brought pressure on him, Jagan added. Jagan showed true colours: CM Later Chandrababu Naidu hit back at Jagan saying that the YSRC chief showed his true colours by not taking part in discussion on condolence motion in the House.
By saying that he would field a candidate for Nandyal, Jagan was being ungrateful since TDP had honoured the unwritten agreement among the parties of leaving a seat to the family members of an MLA in the event of his death.
“For instance, when Congress leaders Ragya Naik and YS Rajasekhar Reddy and YSRC MLA Shobha Nagi Reddy died, we did not field our candidates,” he added. Naidu was emphatic that it was because of Jagan that Bhuma suffered the fatal heat attack.
As soon as Bhuma joined TDP, Jagan called on the Governor and requested him not to take him into the Cabinet as he was a YSRC MLA. He said there was no truth in the charge that TDP had brought Bhuma’s daughter Akhila Priya to the Assembly and made her speak though the funeral was held hardly a day ago. “She came on her own to the Assembly to vent out her feelings,” Naidu said.