Amaravati, March 5 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Ayyanna Patrudu on Wednesday rejected the plea of former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party leader Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to recognise him as the Leader of the Opposition.
The Speaker, in its ruling pronounced in the Assembly, said the “unreasonable desire” of Jagan for recognition as the Leader of the Opposition cannot be considered.
In the 175-member state Assembly, a party should have a minimum strength of 18 members to consider the leader of such a party for recognition as the LoP, he said.
YSR Congress Party headed by Jagan has 11 members in the Assembly.
The Speaker said the communication he received from Jagan Mohan Reddy in June 2024 was replete with “accusations, speculative assertions, threats, and fallacious arguments, all aimed at asserting his sense of entitlement to be recognised as the Leader of the Opposition”.
The Speaker also noted that Jagan also approached the High Court, seeking a direction from the Secretary to the Legislative Assembly and the Secretary to the Speaker to designate him as the ‘Leader of the Opposition’ in the Legislative Assembly.
Ayyanna Patrudu said certain news reports quoting Jagan Mohan Reddy’s “audacious” claims that the High Court “issued summons to the Speaker” and “gave directions to the Speaker to pass orders” were brought to his notice.
“The fact is that his writ petition, as of today, is not even admitted by Hon’ble High Court. I am not surprised by the repeated malicious and vitriolic campaign being carried out by Sri Jagan Mohan Reddy. It is consistent with the baseless allegations made by him in his accusatory communication dated 24.06.2024. On this occasion, he has gone so far as to attribute his speculative assertions to the Hon’ble High Court. Regrettably, this is characteristic of his approach,” the Speaker said.
The Speaker dismissed Jagan Mohan Reddy’s argument that the sequence in which he was called to take oath as a member of the Assembly on June 21 implied a decision to deny him the status of Leader of the Opposition. He maintained that the oath-taking procedure was in strict adherence to established conventions
He pointed out that the official communication regarding the election of Jagan Mohan Reddy as the Leader of the YSRC Legislature Party was received by the Secretariat only on June 26. “The question, therefore, arises: In the absence of such communication, could any claim for recognition have been considered? Especially, even before the election of the Speaker ?” he asked.
“The eligibility for the position of Leader of Opposition is determined solely in accordance with constitutional provisions, legal mandates, and established precedents,” the Speaker said in his ruling.
The Speaker cited various rules of the Andhra Pradesh Payment of Salaries and Pension and Removal of Disqualifications Act, 1953 and the examples from the 16th and 17th Lok Sabha in favour of his ruling.
“Accordingly, in the 175-member Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh, unless the largest party in opposition attains a minimum strength of 18 Members, it would be improper to consider the leader of such a party for recognition as the Leader of the Opposition purely on discretion,” reads the ruling.
The Speaker said Jagan Mohan Reddy’s utterances attributing motives to the Chair amount to breach of privilege and contempt of the House. “I have decided to treat his diatribe with the contempt it deserves. I am not sure if the House would tolerate any further, recurrence of such deplorable conduct.”
The Speaker also urged YSRCP MLAs not to stay away from the Assembly and think about the responsibility given to them by electors of their respective constituencies. He said their absence from the House would only deprive their voters of the opportunity to raise their concerns in the House.
–IANS
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