Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Thursday accepted the resignations of five YSR Congress legislators. V Vara Prasada Rao, YV Subba Reddy, PV Midhun Reddy, YS Avinash Reddy, and Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy had quit in April to protest against the Centre’s failure to provide special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
According to the Lok Sabha bulletin, Mahajan accepted the resignations of the MPs with effect from June 20. This comes two weeks after the legislators urged the Speaker to accept their resignations immediately. Mahajan had earlier asked them to reconsider their decision.
The YSR Congress and the Telugu Desam Party had held up proceedings in Parliament all through the Budget Session to protest the Centre’s refusal to grant Andhra Pradesh special status. The session was marred by protests for for 22 days in a row in March-April.
The five YSR Congress Party legislators had also accused Mahajan of using various pretexts to not admit their no-confidence notice against the central government. The party submitted at least 12 notices, calling for discussions on a no-trust motion against the government.
“We proved our sincerity by resigning from our seats,” Rajamohan Reddy said, according to the Hindustan Times. “Now, it is up to the Election Commission to take a call on whether it will hold bye-elections to the vacant seats or not. We are ready to face the bye-elections.”
As the resignations were accepted on June 20 and the present term of the Lok Sabha will be over in less than a year’s time, chances of bye-elections to these seats are slim, reported The Times of India. The Election Commission will decide on the matter after the Speaker’s office informs it about the vacant seats.
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