Alleging that the ruling TDP was trying to deny the YSRCP the status of principal opposition party, former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday wrote to Speaker Ayyanna Patrudu pointing out that his party was the sole opposition though it got only 11 seats in the recent assembly election.
He expressed apprehension that in the absence of the status of Leader of Opposition and the hostilities that were displayed by the Treasury Benches against him, both his opportunity and duration to speak on public issues would be severely curtailed.
The YSRCP chief complained that he was called to take oath after the ministers in the Cabinet, though convention demanded that he should have been called after the Leader of the House.
“…YSRCP is the sole party in Opposition to the ruling coalition comprising TDP-JSP-BJP which was also a pre-electoral alliance. The sequence followed for the process held on June 21 clearly discloses the intent of the floor leaders of the ruling combine to deny YSRCLP the status of principal Opposition party and the concomitant status to its floor leader,” he said.
He also complained that the new elected Speaker had spoken against him in a YouTube interview referring to him as a “person defeated and not yet dead” and that “I should be beaten until I die.”
He further stated, “YSRCP has secured a vote share of 40 per cent in the recently concluded elections, I owe a duty to the people of Andhra Pradesh to represent their concerns on the floor of the august House.
“In view of the open and undisguised hostility exhibited by the leaders of the ruling combine as also by the Honourable Speaker, the YSRLP is constrained to evaluate the utility of its participation in the proceedings of the august House if it is treated as a party with 11 MLAs with no status of Leader of Opposition.”
He cited at least three instances where the Opposition leader got the required status though its numbers were inadequate, including that of TDP in Lok Sabha in 1984.