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Hyderabad: The
ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh survived the second
no-confidence motion in 16 months early Saturday thanks to a
divided opposition. But the result proved the government was
technically in a minority.
With the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) remaining
neutral and as many as 27 members abstaining, only 58 legislators
voted for the motion moved by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Two members were not allowed to vote by the speaker.
In a house with an effective strength of 293 (including a
nominated member), 142 members opposed the motion. Thus the
Congress has technically been reduced to a minority by not
reaching even the half-way mark.
The actual strength of the assembly is 295.
The voting which took place around 1 a.m. Saturday after a 15-hour
acrimonious debate saw nine legislators of Congress party and
seven of TDP violating the party whip and support the motion.
As these legislators switched loyalties to YSR Congress, the
strength of the Congress came down from 155 to 146 (four of them
could not attend the assembly for various reasons) and TDP's tally
shrunk from 85 to 79.
Opposition leader and TDP chief N. Chandrababu was among the 15
TDP members not present in the house.
The TRS (17), YSR Congress (17), Communist Party of India (4),
Bharatiya Janata Party (3), Communist Party of India-Marxist (1)
and an independent besides 15 rebels of the Congress and TDP voted
for the motion.
The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (7), which withdrew support to
the government a few months ago, also stayed away from voting on
the ground it can't sail with the BJP.
Claiming moral victory, TRS and YSR Congress alleged that the TDP
had colluded with Congress.
"This government has been reduced to a minority and hence has no
moral right to continue in power," said TRS leader Harish Rao.
"The motion has exposed the TDP, which colluded with Congress to
save the government," said YSR Congress leader B. Karunakar Reddy.
Earlier, replying to the debate, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy
alleged that the two opposition parties moved the no-confidence
motion due to their fear of losing the ensuing local body
elections.
He claimed that Congress would emerge stronger and would bag more
seats in the 2014 general election.
TDP decided to remain neutral, saying it can't support the motion
moved by TRS and YSR Congress to push their own agenda.
Both TRS and YSR Congress had supported a no-trust motion moved by
TDP in December 2011. The same was defeated by 160 to 122 votes.
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