YS Jagan requests AP Assembly speaker to recognise him as leader of Opposition

Amaravati: Former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has written a letter to Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker Chintakayala Ayyanna Patrudu appealing for recognition as the Leader of Opposition (LoP).

The YSRCP suffered an electoral defeat in the recent AP Assembly and General Elections, winning only 11 Assembly and four Lok Sabha seats.

On June 21, YS Jagan and his newly elected MLAs took oath as the members of the Legislative Assembly in the 16th AP Legislative Assembly Session held at Velagapudi. However, on day two, the YSRCP chief and his MLAs skipped the sessions and Jagan embarked on a tour of his home turf Pulivendula in the YSR Kadapa district.

Explaining his action with his request, Jagan wrote a four-page letter addressed to the speaker.

‘The ruling combine has already decided not to give me LoP status’

Jagan said that as per practices of the past, the leader of the August House should take the oath, followed by the leader of the Opposition and ministers in the Cabinet and other MLAs. But this was not followed.

He said that chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, being the Leader of the August House, was first administered the oath followed by the council of ministers.

Stating that as he was elected as the Leader of the YSRCP Legislature Party after the recently concluded State Assembly elections, he being administrated oath after ministers is not right.

“I was called upon to be administered the oath only after the ministers. The above sequence leaves me with an impression that there is already a decision taken not to grant the status of Leader of Opposition (LoP) to me,” Jagan said in the letter.

‘Sequence of oath administering reveal ruling party’s intent’

Defining the status of the Leader of Opposition under Section-12 B of the Andhra Pradesh Payment of Salaries and Pension and Removal of Disqualifications Act, 1953, Jagan said, indubitably the YSRCP is the sole party in opposition to the ruling coalition comprising TDP-JSP-BJP. He said there is no scope for any ambiguity that the leader of the opposition party should be the LoP.

However, the sequence followed for the process held on June 21 clearly shows the intent of the floor leaders of the ruling combine to deny YSRCLP the status of the principal Opposition party and the accompanying status of LoP to its floor leader, he said.

Jagan claims ‘videos’ of speaker show partiality towards the ruling group

He claimed that there are videos in circulation showing the speaker alluding to Jagan as a ‘person defeated but not yet dead’, and that ‘I should be beaten until I die’.

“The 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. In view of the open and undisguised hostility exhibited by the leaders of the ruling combine as also by the speaker, the YSRCLP is constrained to evaluate the utility of its participation in the proceedings if it is treated as a party with eleven MLAs with no status of LoP,” YS Jagan said.

No mandatory minimum strength to claim LoP status

Rubbishing reports that a minimum strength is required to claim Opposition status, Jagan claimed that no law states that 10 per cent seats are required to confer the principal opposition party status, and added that such a practice has not been followed in the Parliament or a State’s Assembly.

“It is to be noted that the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly notified under Article 208 of the Constitution of India do not prescribe any such mandatory percentage of seats to be secured by a political party for recognising its leader as LoP nor has there been any convention of insistence of 10 per cent strength on the floor of the August House for the Opposition party, in the unified State of Andhra Pradesh to grant such recognition as LoP,” he said.

The former chief minister listed instances where the Opposition party to the government were treated as such and its leader was granted the LoP status:

- P Upendra of the TDP was granted the position of LoP in the Lok Sabha in 1984 even though the TDP only secured 30 seats out of a total of 543 seats.

- P Janardhana Reddy was accorded the position of LoP in the AP Legislative Assembly in 1994 even though the Indian National Congress (INC) Party only secured 26 out of 294 seats.

- The Legislative Assembly of the State of Delhi in 2015, has accorded the status of LoP to the BJP even though they only secured 3 out of a total of 70 seats.

The YSRCP chief requested the speaker to consider these circumstances and take a decision.