YSR Congress Sets The Ball Rolling on No-confidence Motion

YSR Congress set the ball rolling yesterday on the issue of the no-confidence motion. Soon after the meeting of the central governing council in the city, its spokesperson Balineni Srinivasa Reddy told the media that the YSR Congress had the requisite numbers to bring down the Kiran government. "We will prove our strength when a no-trust vote is actually moved in the house. All I can say is that we have the necessary number of MLAs willing to support Jagan on the issue. Let the TDP take the initiative to table the no-trust vote," he said.

On its part, the TDP demanded that the chief minister convene a special session of the assembly and prove his majority. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) joined in by stating that it would support a no-trust motion moved by any party. Responding to these demands, PCC president D Srinivas said that the Kiran regime was ready to prove its majority in the house any day. A no-confidence motion can be moved by even one MLA, but for it to be taken up for consideration, it requires the backing of one-tenth of the total strength of the house, which would mean 30 legislators in the case of Andhra Pradesh.

Highly placed sources in the know how say, normally it is the governor who would convene a regular session of the assembly based on the advice of the chief minister and his cabinet. But under special circumstances wherein the majority of the state government is in doubt or needs to be proved, the governor can convene a special session. As per indications, the monsoon session of the state assembly is likely to be held in July this year. But any call on a special session can be made only by the governor. Now, it all depends on the governor E S L Narasimhan, who like any governor appointed by the government in power at the Centre, would weigh the options for the ruling party before making his call.