The Telugu Desam on Friday took the drastic step of suspending four MLAs for indulging in anti-party activities and defying a directive to stay away from the presidential polls.
The four are Nuzvid MLA Chinnam Ramakotaiah, Mantralayam MLA Bala Nagi Reddy, Mudhole MLA S. Venugopala Chari and Parigi MLA K. Harishwar Reddy.
The four MLAs and the already-suspended Gudivada MLA Kodali Sri Venkateshwara, alias Kodali Nani, defied the party’s decision to abstain from voting and cast their votes in the election. The Telegu Desam has 86 MLAs. Though the party whip does not apply to presidential elections, Mr Naidu found the defiance of the MLAs and their hobnobbing with the Congress and YSR Congress MLAs in the Assembly premises, too hard to digest. The MLAs got a lot of media attention too. TDP general secretary Varla Ramaiah justified the suspension of the four MLAs. “They have caused immense damage to the party. In fact, they wanted to get suspended, going by their actions. They are now free birds and I feel they should be a happy lot,” he said.
He said that the party hade given them “ample opportunities to rectify their mistakes and join the mainstream.”
For Mr Harishwar Reddy and Mr Venugopala Chari, the motive for the defiance was what they see as Mr Naidu’s defection on the Telangana issue. They have been fighting for the Telangana cause and kept aloof from party activities after the party backtracked from its 2008 resolution supporting Telangana.