Amaravati, Nov 27 (PTI) In a fresh jolt to the YSRCongress, yet another MLA from the party today crossed over tothe Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh, taking the total count oflegislators who have switched loyalty to 23.
Giddi Eeswari, the tribal legislator from Paderuconstituency in Visakhapatnam district, joined the rulingparty here, with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu formallywelcoming her into the TDP fold.
Incidentally, Eeswari once reportedly threatened to"chop off" Naidu's head if he went ahead with permittingbauxite mining in the Araku-Paderu Agency area ofVisakhapatnam district.
Last year, when legislators from the Jaganmohan Reddy-headed YSRC were making a beeline to join the Naidu-led party,Eeswari alleged she was offered "crores of rupees" to shiftloyalty to the TDP but refused.
"Now they (the YSRC) are accusing me of receiving Rs 25crore for jumping over to the TDP. This is totally false. Iwas a teacher and a tribal who follow ethics. It is untruethat I was offered the money," the first-time MLA toldreporters after meeting the chief minister.
Eeswari said she joined the TDP "with a lot of pain" as(YSRC chief) "Jagan let us down".
"We have toiled for the YSRC for years but now Jagan isbringing in tribals from the plains and thrusting on us. Wetried to prevail on him against it but to no avail. Hence, Idecided to join the TDP," she said.
"I placed only one demand before the Chief Minister -that bauxite mining be not permitted at any cost in the Agencyarea and safeguard the interests of tribals," the MLA said.
Defection from the YSRC, the only opposition party in theAndhra Pradesh Assembly, began in February 2016 and so far 23lawmakers have crossed over.
One of them, however, passed away in March this year.
Of the remaining 22 legislators, four were made ministersin the Chandrababu Naidu Cabinet.
Petitions seeking disqualification of these lawmakerswere pending before Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao.
The speaker, however, has pointed out that the issue was heldup because of an ongoing litigation in court. PTI DBV RSYDV.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.