Amaravati: AP Assembly seeks to abolish Council

Amaravati: Terming the Legislative Council as a roadblock to pass vital Bills, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a resolution to abolish the State Legislative council.

Replying to the debate, in which more than a dozen ruling party MLAs participated, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said the step was taken to protect democracy as the Council was being misused by the Opposition.

The Chief Minister quoted certain past incidents where the Council delayed and rejected the proposal to constitute separate commissions for SC and ST. The Council, he said, had also rejected the Bill to introduce English medium education in government schools.

He said the Council was putting financial burden of about Rs 60 crore per annum, which the state cannot afford in the wake of poor financial conditions. The state has been pushed into such crisis due to mismanagement by the previous government.

The Chief Minister said that in the past there used to be two Houses since the Upper House used to have intellectuals who could analyse and give suggestions to the Government.

"Now things have changed. Assemblies are having a bouquet of talent from various professions. Hence any additional discussions or analysis in the Upper House was not necessary," he said.

He said the AP Assembly itself has post-graduates, experts in various fields, intellectuals and even journalists and hence there was no need for the Legislative Council.

The Chief Minister said his government was proud to abolish the Council as it was being misused for political interests and was proving a burden on the state exchequer.

The Chief Minister said that his party can get a majority in the Council next year but public interest is paramount for them.

The resolution was passed after a nearly six-hour debate in the absence of opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which stayed away from day-long special sitting to protest against the "undemocratic" move by the YSRCP government. According to Speaker T Seetharam, 133 members voted in support of the Bill.

The resolution will be sent to the Union Home Ministry for drafting a Bill, which will be tabled in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The Bill will have to be cleared by both Houses of Parliament before it can be sent to the President for his assent and issuing the notification.