VIJAYAWADA: A day after Legislative Council Chairman MA Shariff referred the three-capitals bills to a select committee, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday set the ball rolling for scrapping the Upper House, calling upon the people to give a serious thought to whether it should be persisted with when it is coming in the way of public welfare.
Making a statement in the Assembly, the Chief Minister expressed anguish over Wednesday’s events in the Council, stating that the government trusted the House of Elders to function within the bounds of the law.
“But they betrayed the public trust. The bills are meant for the development of all regions...they could have been discussed, accepted or rejected. That is the law. But the Council Chairman used discretionary powers in utter disregard of the law.
When does the question of discretionary powers arise? When there is ambiguity or a grey area. But here, there was no ambiguity. The rules are very clear,” he observed.
Explaining at length what the Chairman had done, Jagan recalled that the Council Chair himself had admitted that as per rules, there was no chance of referring the bills to a select committee.
“But to delay the bills, he used discretionary powers he doesn’t have under the law,” he said, adding that the very thought of using the Council to obstruct public welfare cannot be accepted.
The State Assembly will meet Monday to debate the fate of the Council. Going by the Chief Minister’s remarks, it appears the government has more or less made up its mind to do away with the Upper House.
Earlier, Jagan had a meeting with party seniors Vijayasai Reddy, YV Subba Reddy, and Sajjala Ramkrishna Reddy and Supreme Court advocate Mukul Rohatgi and Advocate General Sriram. If, on Monday, the Assembly adopts a resolution by two-thirds majority abolishing the Council, it will have to be sent to the Centre.
The Central government will have to pass a Bill in both Houses of Parliament. Will the Modi government pass the Bill in the Budget Session of Parliament beginning in just a little over a week? BJP sources said the Centre may not sit on the resolution to frustrate the State government. In the spirit of federalism, the government will pass the Bill, the sources added.
However, some YSRC leaders are privately hopeful Jagan could be turning up the heat only to divide TDP MLCs. “If like in Telangana, the TDP Council members join the YSRC en masse, maybe, the CM might reconsider,” a YSRC leader said on condition of anonymity.
Nonetheless, another YSRC member dismissed it outright, stressing that Jagan may not go that way given his stand on defections -- resign first, come later.
To drive home his point, the Chief Minister even played a video clip of the Council Chairman’s announcement wherein he admits the proposal of the TDP to refer the bills to a select committee was in violation of rules.
The Chief Minister sets the ball rolling for scrapping the Upper House, calling upon the people of the State to give a serious thought to whether it should be persisted with when it is coming in the way of public welfare; the State Assembly will debate the fate of the Council on Monday.