YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy is waging a bitter battle against the despotic Chandrababu Naidu government, but there appears to be something wrong in his strategies.
Apparently, there is none to give proper advices to Jagan; or he, himself, is not willing to accept any advices from any of his seniors.
It was evident from the way he faltered in the Assembly while trying to force a division of voting on the Appropriation Bill in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
As Legislative Affairs Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu put it, generally, there is no practice anywhere in the country to seek a division of vote on appropriation bill, since it is a matter of spending the budgetary funds, including salaries and wages.
If at all there has to be a division of vote, it should happen only during the discussion on demand for grants for any department.
The Opposition can also seek voting on cut-motions on demands. Otherwise, Appropriation Bill is passed only through voice vote.
However, Jagan insisted on voting on the bill, which was naturally rejected by the Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, who came well-prepared with rules and Constitutional provisions.
Ironically, Jagan himself admitted that he was seeking division despite knowing that it would go in favour of the ruling party, only to expose the defected MLAs.
The Speaker, quoted rules, and said a division cannot be sought for political considerations but only genuine reasons; and that, too, not on appropriation bill.
Jagan may have claimed that he had won the “moral victory” but it clearly exposed his inexperience in tackling such situations. He should have taken proper advice from his seniors or Constitutional experts before making such moves.
