Spurned by Speaker, Jagan heads to High Court seeking Leader of Opposition status in Andhra Pradesh

The Speaker, in reply to a letter by Jagan, had earlier ruled out granting opposition party status to YSRCP and the Leader of Opposition post to Jagan, citing the Constitution and Assembly rules that the party failed to secure at least 10% of the total Assembly seats.

YSRCP, which was in power in Andhra Pradesh before Naidu’s TDP won a majority in 2024, had secured just 11 seats out of the total 175. Its failure to secure at least 10% of the total seats meant that it was not automatically recognised as the Opposition party. YSRCP contended that the Speaker’s ruling was politically motivated and biased.

The YSRCP and Jagan have been demanding that the government recognise them as the Opposition since there is no other opposition party with any Assembly seats.

Jagan stopped attending the Assembly proceedings in protest against it, while Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and TDP leaders have been regularly asking him and YSRCP MLAs to attend the House. “Jagan and his MLAs should attend the House and participate in debates instead of spreading false propaganda about government schemes and alleged failures of the government. As per the rules, Opposition party status to YSRCP and to Jagan cannot be granted. The Speaker has made this very clear to Jagan in response to his letter,” Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav said.

YSRCP state coordinator Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy demanded that the government first give them Opposition status.