They came… shouted… and left. This was the manner in which the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) behaved in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday. It is well known that ever since the party lost power, YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy, along with the party’s MLAs, has been staying away from Assembly sessions. The reason they cite for this is that Jagan has not been granted the status of Leader of the Opposition. Despite facing criticism over this, the YSRCP has not changed its stance and continues to boycott the Assembly sessions. However, on every occasion, they attend only on the first day of the Budget sessions for the Governor’s address and then leave soon after. This time too, they followed the same pattern.
On Wednesday, YSRCP chief and former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, along with the party’s MLAs, attended the Assembly. However, they remained in the House only for a short while. During the Governor’s address, they once again raised slogans demanding that Jagan be given the status of Leader of the Opposition. They also shouted slogans opposing the handing over of medical colleges under the PPP model and demanding that law and order be maintained in the state. After briefly disrupting the Governor’s address with slogans, the YSRCP members staged a walkout along with Jagan.
Meanwhile, there have been allegations that some YSRCP MLAs have been signing the Assembly register without actually attending the sessions. In response, Assembly Speaker Chintakayala Ayyannapatrudu has now introduced a new system. In place of the register, a facial recognition attendance system has been implemented. With this, the opportunity to merely sign the register without attending has come to an end. Now, it has become a matter of interest whether Jagan and the party MLAs will attend the House on Thursday to mark their attendance and then leave, or not.
The Speaker and Deputy Speaker have previously announced several times that if an MLA fails to attend the House for six consecutive months, there is a possibility of cancellation of their membership. On the other hand, it is known that there have been criticisms that YSRCP MLAs are drawing salaries without attending the Assembly. There are several issues raised by the main opposition. It remains to be seen whether they will at least now attend the House and question the government or not. While the party’s MLAs are staying away from the Assembly, its MLCs continue to attend the Council. The YSRCP appears to be adopting a different approach for each House.