Congress skilfully dodges No Trust, leaves TDP fuming

The N Kiran Kumar Reddy government, in the existing volatile situation, very skilfully jumped over the notice for a No Confidence Motion and managed to escape a stormy discussion and frontal attack from the main opposition Telugu Desam Party leaders over a number of
welfare issues particularly those of distressed farmers.
After being elected the Speaker, Mr Nadendla Manohar very cleverly avoided a mention of the notice and a formal reply to the opposition.

He adjourned the House sine die, after being congratulated by the Legislators and proceeded to his Chambers, even as the protests from the TDP raged on.

The government stand also made it crystal clear that the ruling party very deliberately and temporarily closed a debate on the No Trust Motion.
Close on the heels of the Speaker’s announcement of the adjournment of the House, the TDP Members rushed to his podium and expressed their resentment and protest over the Congress’
machinations and the ‘somersault’ designed to avert the danger of being overthrown.
Earlier, the Congress had entertained its own apprehensions despite they had good a strength of the Legislators on the Floor of the House as defiant Kadapa leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy had demonstrated a strength of 22 Congress MLAs plus one MLA each from TDP and Praja Rajyam Party on Friday itself.
Doubts arose in the Congress circles whether Mr Jaganmohan Reddy would wean away more of their Legislators and threaten the government’s continuance.

At one stage, it was feared that the government would fall.

For this reason, the N Kiran Kumar Reddy government was rather coerced to switch over to ‘open ballot’ from its earlier stand of secret ballot for electing the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
A defeat of the ruling party’s nominee for the Speaker’s post would have, under any circumstances, amounted to the defeat of the government.

For reasons, unknown the TRS and YSR Congress abstained from voting in the House, while the Congress Legislators, known to be loyal to Mr Jaganmohan Reddy voted in favour of the party’s candidate.
However the sudden change of election pattern was followed by protests from TDP and other opposition members, compelling Pro-tem Speaker J C Diwakar Reddy to conduct the Speaker’s voting a second time on ‘division’ basis.
Earlier, Mr Manohar was declared elected as Speaker by the temporary Speaker in the Chair on the basis of a head count from the voters.
Following Mr Manohar’s silence over the burning ‘issue’, the TDP leaders were in a dilemma whether the Congress would take another six months to convene the state Assembly after Governor’s consent.
Interestingly, Anam Vivekananda Reddy, the Congress MLA and brother of Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayana Reddy, had clarified outside the House that the new Speaker had barely 15 minutes breathing time and then as per rule, he had 10 days time deliberate on the subject.
Mr Vivekananda Reddy was of the view that the N Kiran Kumar Reddy government was not running away nor was it shying away from the said No Confidence Motion.

He maintained that the opposition was jumping at the conclusions without taking into account certain factors.