Jagan plans to remove legislative council!

Rajya Sabha at the national level, and Legislative council at the state level, were not getting proper significance since long. With the industrialists and celebrities forming the queue for Rajya Sabha, many opine that the membership of the Upper house can be bought easily. Keeping Rajya Sabha aside, Legislative council is also in the news for the various reasons.

Andhra Pradesh is the first state in the country, to suggest a ban on the council in 1985, under TDP government, but due to the unknown reasons, the ban was lifted in 2005. Even YS Rajashekar Reddy, the then Chief Minister of united AP, had to face allegations from all over, that he converted council as a rehabilitation center.

Now the new CM Jagan is planning to re-impose ban on the legislative council. Regarding this, he also discussed with a few of the key leaders of YSRCP.

Jagan is trying to convince the party leaders that banning council would reduce the expenditure. “Adding to it, as TDP is given more importance in the council, the opposition party would act as a speed breaker, from passing any bill,” Jagan told the leaders, to convince them for cooperating in banning the council.

But it is not so easy to ban the council. Earlier, the restoration of legislative council was planned during Marri Chennareddy times and it came into reality under YSR leadership. The same was intimated to Jagan, by a few of the YSRCP leaders.

Meanwhile, Payyavula Keshav and few other leaders who are representing council, also won as MLAs this time. So if such leaders resign to council now, then the vacant seats will be added into the account of YSRCP, being the ruling party with maximum number of seats.

Adding to it, there were also few people, who resigned to legislative council and contested in the elections. Such people will also strengthen YSRCP in the legislative council. So taking several things of this sort, into consideration, YSRCP key leaders may not get convinced to ban the council.

Whatever the case, Jagan is seriously thinking about erasing the legislative council. As Lokesh is representing council from TDP, if at all, it gets banned at this point of time, then the young TDP leader will face the first jolt and thus CBN’s son will be away from both assembly (as he lost as an MLA recently) and also legislative council. While TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu is planning to make Lokesh as his successor in the politics, it seems, Jagan is trying to ruin all such plans of Naidu.