Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is being critisiced for inducting four YSR Congress Party defectors into his Cabinet. Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that those who switch parties should resign their positions that they got from the party they departed. The same was held by AP BJP leader Daggubati Purandeswari who penned a a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Party president Amit Shah demanding that stringent laws to curb defections.
Purandeshwari wrote that the anti-defection law has been trivialized in Telugu states. Encouraging NDA ally to allocate cabinet berths to turncoat MLAs, will only dent the image of BJP.
The Opposition Leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy met the governor to submit a memorandum against the allotment of Ministerial posts to four YCP turncoats. He further revealed the plan to meet President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, national-level political parties and NDA partners to explain them of the wrong TDP Government’s allocation of cabinet berths.
AP congress chief N Raghuveera Reddy authored a letter to President to intervene in the defections issue and see that the turncoats are removed from the TDP cabinet.
Venkaiah said that the minority BJP Government had taken leaders from other parties. But, they were all made to resign their existing posts and fight elections. Even Purandeshwari recollected that her father Late NTR also admitted members of opposition party leaders into TDP, but only after they tendered resignation and got re-elected.
These comments gained significance as it was a direct attack on TDP government in AP. All political parties in AP except TDP heeded to the request of Venkaiah who called upon all political parties to come together to fight against political defections. Venkaiah who generally defends the ally TDP has put the ruling party in a difficult situation. Moreover, the saffron party on several occasions raised voice against ally. Since, Venkaiah held that BJP will not fight along with TDP in Telangana, such comments only give chance to the antagonistic leaders in AP to speak up.
