Speaker accepts Nellore Congress MP’s resignation

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has accepted the resignation of Congress Member of Parliament from Nellore (Andhra Pradesh) Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy with effect from Tuesday (Feb.28).

Confirming this, Lok Sabha Secretary-General T.K. Viswanathan told The Hindu on Wednesday that Ms. Kumar had earlier spoke to Mr. Rajamohan Reddy to know whether he was still pressing for his decision to quit the membership of the House. When the member said in the affirmative she decided to accept the paper. The Lok Sabha also issued a bulletin in this regard later. Mr. Reddy, who had given his paper protesting the inclusion of the name of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in the FIR by the CBI against YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy for allegedly possessing disproportionate assets, told The Hindu from Nellore that he could not accept the filing of the case against YSR. It was YSR who had built the Congress in AP and was instrumental in bringing the Congress governments both at the State and at the Centre (UPA-I and UPA-II). The CBI had included YSR’s name in the FIR though the AP High Court, which had ordered for the CBI probe, had not mentioned anything about the late leader. The Congress governments, both in AP and at the Centre, were repeatedly trying to tarnish the name and fame of YSR and his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for political gain, Mr. Rajamohan Reddy alleged. He found best leadership qualities in Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy who was a mass leader and doing good things to the State. If given a chance he would again contest from Nellore on the YSR Congress party (of Mr. Jagan’s) ticket and ensure its victory, Mr. Rajamohan said. With this resignation the strength of Congress members in Lok Sabha from AP has come down to 31 from 32. Earlier, Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy, who was elected from Kadapa, too quit the Lok Sabha membership on November 29, 2010, when the Congress high command objected to his “odarpu yatra” to console the families of those who died unable to digest the death of YSR in air crash on September 2, 2009. Later Mr. Jagan Reddy floated his own YSR Congress party and won from Kadapa in the by-election and returned to the House on May 13, 2011.