Seemandhara MPs send no-trust notice to Speaker

Of the 13 Lok Sabha MPs,six belong to Congress,four to TDP.

As many as 13 members of the Lok Sabha from the Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh,six of them belonging to the ruling Congress,Monday submitted three separate notices to Speaker Meira Kumar for moving a motion of no-confidence against the Manmohan Singh government.

Though they all took the extreme step as a desperate measure to pre-empt the formation of a separate Telangana state,the notice merely stated: That this House expresses its no-confidence in the Union Council of Ministers.

A member seeking the leave of the House to move a motion of no-confidence under Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha has to demonstrate the backing of not less than 50 members.

TDP member Venugopala Reddy said,We are co-ordinating with all parties Shiv Sena,JDU,AIADMK,DMK,Trinamool Congress and all like-minded parties.

Sources disclosed that at least the Shiv Sena,which is opposed to the creation of a separate Vidarbha state in Maharashtra,is likely to back the notice.

The CPM apprehends that it may prove counter-productive and enable the ruling Congress to show its majority by getting support from the SP and the BSP. The correct tactic would be to muster support to defeat the government on the Bill to divide Andhra Pradesh, CPM parliamentary party leader Sitaram Yechury said.

The move by Seemandhra MPs comes at a time when President Pranab Mukherjee is expected to refer the draft Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill for the formation of Telangana to the Assembly for consideration under Article 3 of the Constitution.

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The Union Cabinet approved the draft on Thursday and the Home Ministry sent it to the President on Friday.

The signatories to the letter to the Speaker from the Congress are R Sambasiva Rao,Sabbam Hari,V Arun Kumar,A Saiprathap,L Rajagopal and G V Harshakumar. The TDP members who have sent a separate letter to the Speaker are K Narayana Rao,N Sivaprasad,Nimmala Kristappa and Venugopala Reddy.

The party has five members in the Lok Sabha,but floor leader Nama Nageswara Rao has not signed the letter because he hails from the Telangana region. YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy and his two party colleagues,Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy and S P Y Reddy,have sent another letter to Kumar.