Will Vamsi, Giri, Ganta defy TDP whip?

The three-day “special” assembly session will begin on Monday to decide the fate of Amaravati and relocation of administrative capital to Visakhapatnam.

A bill to this effect will be introduced in the assembly by the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government.

The session is going to throw up an interesting question insofar as the Telugu Desam Party is concerned – whether all its party MLAs will support or oppose the government bills.

On Saturday, the TDP issued a one-line whip to all its MLAs to compulsorily attend the assembly session and when the YSRC government introduces the bill on repealing the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Act and also on Decentralised Administration of Andhra Pradesh, they should vote against the same.

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It does mean, if any TDP legislator abstains from attending the assembly session or votes against the bills, he or she would be liable for disqualification.

Now the question here is whether rebel legislator from Gannavaram Vallabhaneni Vamsi, who is technically still a TDP member in the House would abide by the whip or defy it.

Though he has not yet joined the YSRC officially, Vamsi claimed himself to be an independent MLA as he was suspended from the TDP and Speaker Tammineni Sitaram, too, allotted him a separate seat in the House.

Similarly, Guntur (West) MLA Maddali Giridhar openly revolted against TDP leadership and met chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy last month.

He, too, did not join the YSRC and was not suspended from the TDP, but he vehemently supported the three capitals issue. So, it is doubtful whether he would abide by the TDP whip, though he is technically a TDP member.

Visakhapatnam (North) MLA and former Ganta Srinivasa Rao is also facing the same predicament.

He, too, openly supported the shifting of the capital to Visakhapatnam and even thanked the chief minister for the same. But he did not make any comments against the TDP or Chandrababu Naidu. 

Yet, one wonders whether he will vote against shifting of capital to Visakhapatnam by following the TDP whip. So is the case with other TDP MLAs from Visakhapatnam.

Meanwhile, Naidu has called for a meeting of Telugu Desam legislature party at 10.30 am on Sunday to chalk out the party strategy on the three capitals issue in the assembly.

It remains to be seen how many MLAs would attend the meeting. It will give an indication as to how many MLAs would defy the party whip.

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