YSRC MPs Hail Acceptance of Their Resignations; Slams TDP

Amaravati (AP), June 21 (PTI) Welcoming Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's decision to accept their resignations, YSR Congress MPs tonight said it reaffirmed their commitment to the cause of securing special category status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh.

"We are very happy that our resignations have been accepted. We quit our posts 14 months ahead of schedule. We are confident that under Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's leadership, we will secure SCS," YSRC leader Y V Subba Reddy, one of the five MPs who had resigned, said.

He alleged Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu struck a "compromise settlement" for a special economic package rather than special category status.

Had the ruling Telugu Desam MPs too resigned, the situation would have been different, he said.

"Acceptance of our resignations is a clear slap on the TDP," he added.

Five YSR Congress members of Lok Sabha -- Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy (Nellore), V Varaprasada Rao (Tirupati), P Mithun Reddy (Rajampet), Y S Avinash Reddy (Kadapa) and Subba Reddy (Ongole) -- resigned from their posts on April 6 demanding that the Centre concede the demand for grant of SCS.

The Lok Sabha Speaker held two rounds of talks with the YSRC leaders late last month and early this month on the resignations issue.

On her return from a 10-day foreign trip, the Speaker finally took a call and accepted the resignations tonight.

However, with only less than year of the present Lok Sabha's tenure left, it was not clear whether byelections would be held to these constituencies.

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