Municipal Administration Minister Botcha Satyanarayana has said that the government would come out with a clear decision on the abolition of the Legislative Council on January 27.
Addressing mediapersons at the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) central office on Sunday, Mr. Satyanarayana said people should think whether the Council was necessary, alleging that it had flouted norms in dealing with the government business, for political reasons. This was what had happened to the decentralisation and CRDA repeal Bills in the Council after the Assembly had sent them as per established procedures, he added.
He recalled that N.T. Rama Rao had abolished the Council when he was the Chief Minister and the same media which had supported it then was now raising a hue and cry as the State government wanted to do the same thing to ensure that the Upper House did not come in the way of important Bills related to development and welfare.
The claims that the YSRCP was trying to win the support of TDP MLCs through dubious means were baseless, the Minister added.
‘Only advisory role’
At a separate press meet, government advisor (public affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy felt the need for discussing the relevance of the Council in view of the ‘undemocratic stand taken by it’ on the decentralisation and CRDA repeal Bills passed by the Assembly. He asserted that the Council was only advisory in nature and it should have adhered to rules.
He alleged that former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had provoked his party MLCs to stall the government business (Bills) to achieve his political objectives. The reference of the two Bills to a select committee by the Council Chairman was not in accordance with the rules. The Bills could only be delayed but not stopped altogether, he added.
