Amaravati: YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) President and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy made a brief appearance in the Assembly on the first day of the Budget session, only to lead his party members in a dramatic walkout over the demand for Leader of Opposition (LoP) status.
Jagan was present in the House for just 11 minutes as Governor S. Abdul Nazeer addressed the joint session of the Assembly and the Legislative Council. However, YSRCP MLAs disrupted the speech by raising slogans of “Save Democracy”, protesting against the denial of LoP status to Jagan Mohan Reddy. Soon after, he led his party members out of the House in protest.
YSRCP leader Botcha Satyanarayana later told reporters that the ruling TDP-led coalition must recognize Jagan Mohan Reddy as the opposition leader, as democracy cannot function without an opposition.
Jagan’s appearance in the Assembly comes after Deputy Speaker K. Raghu Rama Krishna Raju recently warned that he could be disqualified under Article 190(4) of the Constitution if he continued to skip House sessions for 60 days without permission.
The controversy over LoP status stems from YSRCP’s dismal performance in the recent elections, where it secured only 11 out of 175 seats. The TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance holds the remaining seats, with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s government arguing that a party needs at least 10% of Assembly seats to claim the LoP position.
Jagan Mohan Reddy has also approached the High Court, seeking an order to compel the Speaker to recognize him as LoP. The YSRCP had boycotted the Budget session in November over the same issue, accusing the ruling coalition of trying to silence the opposition.
