VIJAYAWADA: When the Andhra Pradesh Legislature convenes for its monsoon session in Velagapudi on Monday, the real floor action will unfold not in the Assembly, but across the hall in the Legislative Council.
With the YSRCP choosing to boycott the Assembly after being denied the Leader of Opposition (LoP) status, the 175-member Lower House — where the ruling TDP-led coalition holds 164 seats against YSRCP’s 11 — will sit with virtually no opposition present.In a recent meeting with party legislators, YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy noted that the coalition government was unwilling to accord him the LoP status despite YSRCP being the ‘principal opposition party.’ As a result, the party leadership opted to address Assembly-related matters outside the floor through media briefings.
However, with the YSRCP commanding a strong majority of 32 MLCs in the 58-member Legislative Council, the party has decided to centre its legislative strategy entirely in the Upper House.
The Council will now serve as the primary arena for political debate during the session, which is expected to run for 4 to 8 working days, subject to the final calendar fixed by the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) on day one.
Jagan has instructed his party’s MLCs to leverage their majority and force debates on key state issues, most notably the alleged irregularities in the Mega District Selection Committee (DSC) teacher recruitment examination
In addition to teacher recruitment, opposition MLCs plan to press the government on alleged outsourcing scandals, the lack of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for agricultural produce, water shortages, and the alleged suspension of the free crop insurance scheme Administrative and security preparations at the Velagapudi complex have been finalised.