VIJAYAWADA: The stage is set for the State Cabinet to give its consent for abolishing the AP Legislative Council. With this as the sole agenda, the Cabinet will meet on Monday morning, shortly before discussions begin in the Assembly to pass a resolution to do away with the Council. As per the plan, the resolution will be sent to the central government the same day.
Even as the ruling YSRC sent clear indications of what will happen on Monday, the Opposition TDP put up a brave face and said abolishing the Council would not be easy. It also decided to boycott the Assembly session.
At 9 am, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will chair the Cabinet meeting and formally approve the move to abolish the Council. At 11 am, the Assembly will discuss the "consequences arising after Bills are passed by the Legislative Assembly”, and the circumstances that led to the passing of the resolution to abolish the Council will be discussed. The resolution will then be passed, sources said.
Last week, the crucial Decentralisation Bill and Bill to Repeal the APCRDA were stalled in the Council, where the TDP enjoys a majority. Instead of rejecting and sending the Bills back to the Assembly, Council Chairman MA Shariff referred them to the select committee which may take at least three months to study the Bills.
Five TDP MLCs skip Legislature Party meet
After mulling various options and the implications of abolishing the Council, the YSRC government decided to go ahead with scrapping the House of Elders as the Opposition party would remain in a majority in the Council till 2021 and Bills passed in the Assembly might get stalled in the Council. The TDP, on the other hand, alleged that the YSRC tried to poach its members, but after failing, decided to scrap the Council.
"It will not succeed in its plan to abolish the Council. It is not so easy to do so," said TDP MLC Buddha Venkanna, adding that the YSRC should move the resolution in the Assembly only after asking two of its Cabinet ministers - Pilli Subash Chandra Bose and Mopidevi Venkataramana (who are MLCs) - to resign from the Cabinet. The TDP MLC also said the decisions of the Council (specifically on referring the Bills to the select committee) would be in vogue until the Council is abolished, which could take even two years.
When the TDP Legislature Party met on Sunday, at least five MLCs did not show up, giving rise to speculation that they may shift loyalties to the ruling YSRC. However, TDP leaders maintained that all those who did not attend had sought permission, and none of them would yield to pressure from the YSRC to jump ship.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan summoned Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram and Council Chairman MA Shariff to Raj Bhavan and got first-hand information on the recent developments in the Assembly and Council.
Simultaneously, notwithstanding the government’s clear indications that it would abolish the Council, Chairman MA Shariff asked the whips of all political parties to submit the names of their members to represent the select committee which will study the two Bills.
