Naidu's no-confidence strenghtens Jagan

The no-confidence motion moved by the Telugu Desam Party against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in the state has been defeated as expected, without giving scope for any miracles.
But one wonders what the TDP has achieved by moving the motion.
On Monday morning itself, the TDP leaders were found commenting during the television debates that there was way the no-confidence motion would win because the ruling party obviously had the majority in the House.
“The chances of no-confidence motion winning are more only if the difference between the number of ruling party MLAs and that of the opposition is very thin; or if a big group of the ruling party breaks away to form another splinter group,” observed former TDP minister Kodela Sivaprasada Rao.
Then why did the TDP go ahead with the no-confidence motion and what did it achieve? The answer is nothing. If wants to test the strength of the Jagan group MLAs, then one wonders how does it benefit Naidu?
On the other hand, if they are disqualified and by-elections are held, there is no way the TDP will benefit out of it because it has little chances of winning those seats. Even if the Kiran Kumar Reddy government lost the trust vote resulting in mid-term elections, it would not have helped the TDP at all, as the party absolutely no chances in the Telangana region.
So, Naidu only messed up the state political scenario. In a way, he has helped YSR Contgress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy to strengthen further.

Kiran survives, Jagan proves point

The opposition sponsored no-confidence motion against the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh was defeated by a huge margin in the state assembly late Monday night.
After over a 16-hour-long debate on the motion moved by Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the house voted on the motion after 1 a.m. While 122 members supported the motion, 160 opposed it and there was one neutral. Five members were absent during the voting.
Though 16 Congress legislators loyal to YSR Congress party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy violated the whip to vote in favour of the motion, it was not enough to defeat the government.
The ruling party has 153 members in 295-member house. The magic figure required to defeat the motion was 143 as there are seven vacancies in the house.
In addition to ruling party's 136 members, 17 out of 18 legislators of Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) and all seven members of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) opposed the motion.
All 85 members of TDP, 12 of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), four of CPI, two of BJP, one each of CPI-M, YSR Congress party and independent voted for the motion.
Though YSR Congress party's honorary president Vijayamma had reached the assembly in the morning with 18 Congress rebels, the number dwindled to 16 by the time of the voting. Suspense over the actual strength of Jagan group continued till the last minute as Congress leaders made all out efforts to win back rebels.
Announcing the defeat of the motion, Speaker N. Manohar adjourned the house sine die.
On the last day of the five-day winter session, the house debated the motion for over 16 hours. The debate was marred by not just heated exchanges between treasury and opposition benches but also by the allegations and counter allegations among the parties supporting the motion.
If the final result at the no-confidence vote was to be taken into account, the Congress has only 137 members whereas the combined Opposition strength was 122.
“If one were to take out the combined strength of PRP and MIM (24 MLAs) and add it to the Opposition tally, it would almost reach the magical 150-mark which is sufficient to unseat the Kiran government. It was a close shave for the CM. Despite his bravado, the CM must be feeling the jitters,” a senior analyst pointed out.

We won't be sacked:Jagan MLAs' confident

The Congress MLAs owing allegiance to YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy till now seem to be confident that they would not be disqualified from the Congress party even if they vote against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in the no-confidence motion.
According to the indications available so far, at least a dozen MLAs would vote for the no-confidence motion moved by Telugu Desam Party in the assembly.
They are of the view that the Congress would not dare to issue a disqualification notice against them because it would result in dwindling of its numbers in the assembly and would make its position precarious. In the event of they being disqualified, there is every possibility that the YSR Congress would back all the seats and thus, the Congress strength would come down by their number.
“Hence, even if they vote against the government, the Congress party would bear it with humiliation and would not seek their disqualification because technically, they still remain the Congress MLAs,” a political observer said.
To avoid such an embarrassing situation, the Speaker might even conduct a voice vote on the no-confidence motion and say that the no-trust motion was lost. That would help the Congress to claim that all the pro-Jagan MLAs had voted for the government. It would save the face of both the Congress as well as Jaganmohan Reddy. In a way, it will also be a blessing in disguise for the TDP, since it might not be willing to contest the by-elections in the disqualified pro-Jagan MLAs’ constituencies.

Assembly is Babu's benami property!!!

Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday wondered why his rivals were linking every property in the world to him stating that they were all his benami properties.
Making a scathing attack on all his rivals while initiating the debate on the no-confidence motion in the state assembly, the TDP president challenged that he would sell away all the properties, if they were proven to be his benami assets, and donate the money to those who make wild allegations against him.
“They say I own a hotel in Singapore. Let anybody prove that I own any property, leave alone hotel, in Singapore. I will write the hotel in his or her name. I am not surprised if they say even this assembly building is my benami property,” Naidu alleged.
He said there were several allegations against me in the past and not a single allegation was proved. “I have been in the opposition for the last eight years. What have you done all these years,” he asked.

MLAs got richer overnight

The no-confidence motion introduced by the Telugu Desam Party in the state assembly has turned out to be an excellent opportunity to many MLAs from various parties to reap rich benefits.
It was a sort of windfall for the Praja Rajyam Party MLAs, as the Congress high command has assured them to take care of all their interests besides reportedly handing over “suitcases” to them.
On the other hand, several Congress MLAs in the camp of YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, too, have been lured back into the Congress with monetary and other benefits.
The Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (MIM) also rightly used the opportunity to blackmail the Congress party and got the Hyderabad Mayor seat for the next three years, instead of just two years, as a sort of gift for saving the Kiran government.
At the same time, the Congress party has also managed to silence its rebels like Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and P Shankar Rao to vote for the Kiran government, though they are bitter critics of him.
It is yet to be known what “settlement” they had reached to vote for the Chief Minister. The Congress leaders are also allegedly “managed” Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLA Ch Ramesh to stay back in Germany in the name of flight problems.
Unfortunately, only the TDP legislators could not get anything in the bargain. “We are moving the no-trust motion and you are getting the benefits,” a TDP legislator commented with a rebel Congress MLA in the assembly.

Kiran trying to divide and rule

Having realized that the Praja Rajyam Party legislators, including their leader K Chiranjeevi, are thoroughly disappointed with being ignored in his government, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has started wooing them.
According to the information reaching the Chief Minister, the PRP legislators might even vote against his government during the no-confidence motion moved by the Telugu Desam Party.
Apparently, Kiran might be apprehensive that Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanaryana could be instigating the PRP MLAs to vote for the no-confidence motion and pull down his government. That is why, the Chief Minister has begun the damage control exercise.
He asked Whip Kondru Murali to talk to Chiranjeevi and pacify him; and at the same time, he started talking to the PRP MLAs individually and seek their support. He called Kakinada rural MLA Kanna Babu to his chamber and promised to take care of his career.
“If it is not possible to convince the PRP MLAs at all at a time, he is making attempts to split them at least,” sources said.