The YSR Congress party has virtually no representation in Lok Sabha now, as all its five MPs have resigned from their posts to protest against the Centre’s refusal to grant special category status to AP.
However, on record, it still has three MPs – Butta Renuka from Kurnool, S P Y Reddy from Nandyal and Kothapalli Geetha from Araku parliamentary constituencies.
While Renuka and Reddy joined the TDP, Geetha has quit the YSRC and has remained independent. So, for all practical purposes, they are no more YSRC MPs.
Surprisingly, Renuka attended the all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday to discuss the modalities for conducting the monsoon session of Parliament.
The Kurnool MP was invited to the meeting in the capacity of YSRC deputy floor leader in Lok Sabha.
What is worse, the Speaker’s office put up a board in front of Renuka at the meeting stating that she was YSRC deputy floor leader.
This angered the YSRC Rajya Sabha member V Vijay Sai Reddy. He raised a strong objection to Renuka attending the all-party meeting on behalf of the YSRC, though she had joined the TDP long ago.
He also protested for designating Renuka as YSRC deputy floor leader by putting up the board.
“She is no more with YSRC. And we already gave a petition to the Speaker’s office seeking disqualification of Renuka for defecting into the TDP. When the petition is still pending, how can the Speaker consider her as the deputy floor leader of YSRC?” Sai Reddy asked.
He brought it to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also threatened to boycott the all-party meeting, if the board in front of Renuka was not removed.
Though Union minister for parliamentary affairs Anant Kumar tried to defend calling Renuka, he had to backtrack following Sai Reddy’s strong protests. Finally, the authorities removed the board in front of her.
“It clearly shows the continued nexus between the BJP and the TDP. The BJP is defending the defections engineered by Chandrababu Naidu,” Sai Reddy alleged.
