Sobha Nagi Reddy quits Assembly

In a shrewd move, Allagadda Mla Sobha Nagireddy on Tuesday submitted her resignation to put an end to the debate of whether or not she has to oblige to the whip issued by PRP. The resignation comes close on the heels of Congress rebels meeting the Speaker to expedite their disqualification issue and it seems YSRC has moved into an election mode.

Sobha submitted her resignation to Assembly secretary S Raja Sadaram and described her move as an attempt to uphold the dignity of the House and its moral values. When a notice was sent to her by the Speaker, Nadendla Manohar to disqualify her for defying the party whip during the no confidence motion, she questioned the existence of PRP. Since PRP has merged with Congress, there was no such party and a whip cannot be issued by Chiranjeevi, she contended.

The Speaker asked her to submit her explanation on the issue by December 27. Keeping with the deadline she had put in her papers to put further debate at rest. Talking to media after submitting her resignation, she said that she tendered her resignation to uplift the moral values. “I voted in favour of the no confidence motion moved by the TDP to protect the interests of farmers as the Kiran Kumar Reddy government totally failed on farmers’ issue,” she said.

Stating that the PRP has no right to issue a whip, she accused K Chiranjeevi of merging the party with Congress to protect his selfish interests. Shobha said she was not afraid of by-elections and challenged legislators elected on PRP ticket to resign and contest on Congress ticket.

Earlier, Sobha was summoned by the Speaker with regard to the petition submitted by the Praja Rajyam Party seeking her disqualification for voting in favour of no confidence motion in violation of the party whip. She has informed both the Speaker and the Election Commission of India that she would remain independent and would not merge with the Congress party. Since the PRP does not exist, its whip was not legally nor valid, she contended.