TDP MPs Meet Vice President Against Party's Merge With BJP Day After Its Rajya Sabha Lawmakers Defected
The delegation of TDP MPs from both the houses of Parliament met Vice President Venkaiah Naidu against the merger of their party with the BJP after four TDP MPs of Rajya Sabha defected to the saffron party.
New Delhi, June 21: A day after four Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) Rajya Sabha MPs joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) five lawmakers of TDP met Vice President and chairman of the upper house Venkaiah Naidu against the ‘merger’ with the saffron party. The TDP delegation comprised two Rajya Sabha and three Lok Sabha lawmakers. Chandrababu Naidu Will Have to Vacate His Undavalli House, Says YSRCP MLA.
The delegation of TDP MPs from both the houses of Parliament asked the Vice President to disqualify the proceedings under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. Speaking to reports, TDP MP Jaydev Galla said that though the MPs who switched sides should not be disqualified, but it should not be considered as a legal merger as the TDP has not merged with the BJP at the organisational level.
Galla stated, “Having gone through the law what we now understand is, the merger of a political party has to take place at only organisational level. It cannot take place at legislature party level. Since TDP and BJP have not merged at the organisational level this is not a legal merger.”
On Thursday, four Rajya Sabha MPs of the TDP - YS Chowdary, CM Ramesh, Garikapoati Mohan Rao and TG Venkatesh – joined the BJP. They met the Vice President and informed him about their decision "to merge TDP with the BJP" with immediate effect. The MPs who defected to the BJP will escape anti-defection laws as they havê a 2/3rd majority among the six TDP MPs in Raya Sabha.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 21, 2019 06:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).