Shobha meets Speaker, questions PRP's existence

Allagadda MLA Shobha Nagireddy has questioned the very existence of the Praja Rajyam Party to skip action under the Anti Defection Law for violating the party whip during the No Confidence Motion.

Shobha was summoned by Speaker Nadendla Manohar at his chambers in the State Legislative Assembly on Monday with regard to the petition submitted by the Praja Rajyam Party seeking her disqualification for voting in favour of No Confidence Motion against the Kiran Kumar Reddy Government in violation of the party whip. The Speaker asked her to sumbit her explanation on the issue by December 27.

It may be mentioned that Shobha was elected from the Allagadda seat in Kurnool district on PRP's ticket in 2009 elections and later joined the Ysr Congress Party.

Later, Shobha told reporters that she has questioned the legality of PRP's disqualification petition. She said that at the time of PRP's merger with the Congress party, 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 valid, she said.

The Allagadda MLA said she was not afraid of contesting by-elections and that was the reason why she submitted her resignation from the post along with other MLAs. However, she said that the process of disqualification initiated against her was illegal. However, she said that she would present her case in detail before the Speaker.