5 YSR Congress MPs resign from Lok Sabha, challenge TDP to do same

NEW DELHI: All the five Lok Sabha Members of YSR Congress on Friday resigned from from Parliament and started a hunger strike against the Centre's "failure" to provide special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Members V Vara Prasada Rao, YV Subba Reddy, PV Midhun Reddy, YS Avinash Reddyand Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy met Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in her chamber and submitted their resignation letters. "I hereby tender my resignation of my seat in the house with immediate effect," said the letters flaunted by them.

Immediately after the resignations, party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy challenged TDP MPs to "resign and stand united with the people of AP in their rightful demand of special category status for Andhra Pradesh."



The party said that, on one pretext or the another, the Lok Sabha Speaker was not admitting its no-confidence notice and denied them a discussion on the motion. YSR Congress and TDP members have been agitating in both houses of Parliament ever since the second half of the Budget session commenced on March 5, demanding special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Soon after their resignations the five lawmakers proceeded to the Andhra Bhawan and started an indefinite hunger strike to press their demand.

Yesterday, at a press conference, the MPs blamed Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for failing to get the status for the state despite being in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for four years. They dismissed the state's ruling Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) MPs' protests inside Parliament for special status as mere "gimmick and antics".