Hyderabad, April 30: Following in the footsteps of the Congress with which it is to merge soon, the Praja Rajyam Party petitioned deputy speaker for the disqualification of two of its MLAs — Bhuma Shobha Nagi Reddy (Allagadda) and Katasani Ramireddy (Banaganapalle) — who are showing loyalty to YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy.
For more than a year, the two MLAs have made no secret of their affinity for Jagan Mohan Reddy.
All this while the PRP made no move to rein them in or have their membership of the Assembly nixed.
Now, however, the party has now decided to take action after the two MLAs recently submitted a representation to the Election Commission contesting the move by PRP to merge with the Congress.
They contended that they did not approve of the merger and would prefer to act as a separate group in the Assembly.
Deputy speaker Nadendla Manohar received the disqualification petition from the PRP whip V Geetha, MLA G Srinivasa Rao and former minister K Subbarayudu in his chambers Thursday evening.
He is expected to shortly serve show-cause notices on the two MLAs after verifying the authenticity of the petition.
The Congress too had for long looked on as four rebel MLAs — K Surekha, G Srikanth Reddy, C Adinarayana Reddy and A Amarnath Reddy — flirted with the Jagan camp.
But the party moved for disqualification on April 21. The deputy speaker served notices on the four MLAs within a week.
Talking to newsmen after submitting the PRP petitions, Geetha said the party submitted video footage and paper clippings in support of its contention against the Shobha Nagi Reddy and Katasani Ramireddy.
It is unethical for a member of one party to participate in the activities of another party, she said.
Geetha said there was no link between the PRP’s merger with the Congress and these disqualification moves now launched by PRP.
It was baseless for Shobha Nagi Reddy to oppose the merger now, after having first proposed it herself just after the 2009 elections, she quipped.
–Agencies