Can't give LoP status out of fear: Speaker

Andhra assembly Speaker C Ayyannapatrudu on Thursday said he cannot grant the leader of Opposition status to YSRCP supremo YS Jagan Mohan Reddy out of fear. Citing rules, he said the YSRCP does not have the required number of MLAs for Reddy to get the LoP recognition.

"He (Jagan) asks why can't they give (opposition leader status) without the numbers? We have some rules. We will go by them only, how will I do it (Opposition leader status) out of fear (for Jagan)?" asked Ayyannapatrudu, addressing the Assembly. With just 11 MLAs in the 175-member assembly, YSRCP does not meet the necessary threshold to be recognised as the official opposition party, which requires a minimum of 18 MLAs.