In a wise move, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy roped in constitutional experts to quell the fear of expulsion of the Congress MLAs who are to join his party. Sensing that the ruling Congress is going all out to desist the legislators from joining it by 'misinterpreting' the disqualification rule, the YSR Congress Party has roped in two constitutional experts to clarify the rule to MLAs and MLCs.


The decision to engage constitutional experts, including a retired high court judge, was reportedly taken after PRP MLA Katasani Ramireddy switched sides from Jagan camp to support the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in the middle of Kadapa byelection campaign. Government chief whip Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who held a series of meetings with the rebel legislators in the past few months, told them that they would be 'ineligible' to contest the next election (including byelections if necessitated) if they were disqualified from the legislative assembly by the Speaker. "A ban on contesting elections for next six years could be imposed while disqualifying from the current membership," sources quoting Vikramarka warning the MLAs said.

A three-time legislator and former minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy alleged that the chief whip had deliberately launched the misinformation campaign to wean away the legislators. "The Speaker can disqualify a member for anti-party activities only for that particular term. He cannot restrict the disqualified member from contesting the next election even if he desires so," explained a retired judge associated with the YSR Congress.