VIJAYAWADA: The stage is set for the AP State Cabinet to approve the abolishing of the AP Legislative Council on Monday.
The Cabinet will meet with the single point agenda of abolishing the Council and formally approve it and later take up discussion in the State Assembly to pass a resolution in this regard and send the same to the Centre.
Even as the ruling YSRC sent out clear signals as to what is going to happen on Monday, the Opposition TD put up a brave face and said the YSRC government could not abolish the Council easily.
The TDP has also decided not to boycott the session on Monday.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will chair the Cabinet on Monday morning at 9 am and the issue of abolishing the Council, which was mulled by the ruling YSRC after the TDP stalled two crucial bills from passing.
At 11 am, the Assembly will take up a short discussion on ‘consequences arising after Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly’ are rejected by the Council.
The circumstances that are leading to the Council’s abolition will be discussed.
A resolution will be passed in the Assembly and the same will be forwarded to the Centre on Monday itself, sources said.
It may be recalled that the crucial Decentralisation Bill and Bill to Repeal AP CRDA were stalled in the Council where the TDP has the numbers in its favour.
Instead of rejecting and sending back the Bills to the Assembly, the Council Chairman MA Shariff referred them to the Select Committee which might take at least three months to study the Bills.
After mulling various options and implications of abolishing the Council, the YSRC government decided to go ahead with scrapping the Elders’ House as the Opposition party will be in majority in the Council till 2021 and the Bills passed in Assembly might be stalled in the Council.
The TDP, on the other hand, alleged that the YSRC tried to poach its members but after failing to do so, it had come up with the idea of scrapping the Council.
“The Jagan government will not succeed in its plans to abolish the Council. It is not so easy to do so,’’ TDP MLC Buddha Venkanna said and added that the YSRC should move the resolution in the Assembly only after asking its two Cabinet ministers -- Pilli Subash Chandra Bose and Mopidevi Venkataramana (who are MLCs) -- to resign from the State Cabinet.
The TDP MLC also said that the decisions of the Council (in referring the Bills to the Select Committee) will be in vogue till the time the Council is abolished, which might take even two years.
The TD Legislature Party met on Sunday which at least five MLCs did not attend giving scope to speculations that they might shift loyalties to the ruling YSRC.
However, the TDP leaders maintained that all those who did not attend took permission.
Meanwhile, Sunday witnessed a couple of interesting developments with Governor Biswa Bhushan Harichandan summoning the Speaker Tammineni Sitaram and Council Chairman M A Shariff to Raj Bhavan and getting first hand information regarding the Assembly and Council proceedings in the past few days.
Send names for panel on Bills: Council chief
Despite the government sending clear indications that it would abolish the Council, Chairman MA Shariff had asked the whips of all political parties to submit the names of their party members to represent the Select Committee which will study the two crucial Bills.