TDP seeks disqualification of 4 MLAs for cross-voting in RS poll

Hyderabad, The Telugu Desam Party on Friday petitioned the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker seeking disqualification of four of its MLAs under the Anti-Defection Law, for violating the party whip and voting for a rival candidate in the Rajya Sabha election on February 7.

In separate petitions filed with Speaker Nadendla Manohar, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu named G Kamalakar, K Harishwar Reddy, S Venugopalachary and Hanumanth Shinde as liable for disqualification.

The TDP, Chandrababu said, had issued two whips on January 31 asking its legislators to vote for party's official candidates Garikapati Mohan Rao and T Seetha Ramalakshmi.

The whips were sent by registered post and their delivery was acknowledged. But the four said legislators violated the whip and unabashedly voted for TRS's K Keshava Rao in the election, Chandrababu said.

These four MLAs had severed ties with the TDP and for the past several months had been associated with the TRS.