Assembly speaker Nadendla Manohar has summoned the 18 MLAs, who violated the whip of their respective parties during the “no-confidence” motion against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government, to appear before him in the Assembly here on May 13 and 14.
After receiving the replies of all these legislators (nine each from the Congress and the TDP) to the notices sent by him to them, the speaker has started the process of initiating action against the members.
Sources in the speaker’s office revealed that the speaker would gather the opinions of these MLAs, when they present themselves before him on May 13 and 14.
After collecting their replies in person, the speaker might deliver his verdict on disqualifying them from the membership of the Assembly. He is likely to take a final decision in regard to the disqualification of the MLAs before the commencement of the second phase of the budget session in June first week.
It may be mentioned that these MLAs had voted in favour of the no-confidence motion on March 16.
However, even if these members are disqualified, as the state will have elections in April/May 2014, the Election Commission is unlikely to hold bypolls for their seats. The commission has recently made it clear that it will not hold bypolls if the remaining term of a disqualified member does not exceed more than one year.