Naidu left fuming as five MLAs ditch key party meeting

Hyderabad: Five MLAs skipped a crucial meeting of the Telugu Desam Party legislators on Sunday, upsetting party chief Chandrababu Naidu. The meeting had been called at a time when farmers are agitating in and around Amaravati and the ruling YSRCP plans to push its three-capital plan in the Assembly on Monday.

Sources said Naidu was keen to get the opinions of his MLAs over the Jagan Mohan Reddy government's move to introduce a bill aiming at scrapping the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), a nodal body for the development of Amaravati as the Andhra Pradesh capital.

Naidu reportedly expressed anger over the failure of party state president and general secretary in garnering the feelings of party MLAs and MLCs on the proposed revocation of the CRDA Act.

Sources said Naidu wanted to discuss the strategies to be adopted by his party legislators during the Assembly session starting Monday. However, he was clearly upset because of the absence of MLAs Ganta Sreenivasa Rao, Vasupalli Ganesh, Ashok, and Anagani Bhavani. Vallabhaneni Vamsee has already asked the Speaker to be allotted a separate seat in the Assembly.

The Telugu Desam Legislative Party has issued a whip to all its MLAs, including rebel legislators Vallabhaneni Vamsee and Maddali Giri, directing them to vote against the key bills to be introduced by the YSRCP government. It has said those disobeying the whip would invite disciplinary action.