Hyderabad: Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has started focusing special attention on party affairs, especially the performance of Congress MLAs in the coming months, with an eye on the next Assembly elections.

After a gap of several months, when odds were against him, the CM would address Congress legislators on Wednesday evening, and let his mind known on the challenges the party would face in the form of local body polls followed by the general elections.

The ongoing Budget Session, in all probability, would be the last before the general elections. A feeling is rife in political circles that, immediately after the session’s end, MLAs of all hues would return to their constituencies and work hard to strengthen their base, as not much time is left for a fresh fight.

Sources close to the CM indicate he would send a message across to Congress legislators that unless they put up a good show in the coming local body polls, they stood little chance of winning a party ticket for the next Assembly polls.

In fact, Kiran Kumar Reddy is dropping hints in the last few days that, as a general policy, parties do keep changing the sitting MLAs. It is routine for the ruling party to change at least 30 per cent of its sitting legislators.

Now comfortably placed in the CM’s chair, and set to lead the party in the next polls, he has renewed confidence in himself, and thinks he should leave no stone unturned to ensure a good performance for the party in the coming polls.

Sources said, with this end in view, he is taking the help of a private agency to feed him periodically on the performance of the party MLAs in their constituencies.

The agency would conduct public opinion polls on each of the likely candidates in segments represented by the party, so as to find out the winnability, popularity, and performance of the MLAs as also of others.

Periodic surveys would also be conducted to know the changing political mood in the 50 per cent assembly constituencies held by the Opposition.

Ruling Congress and main Opposition Telugu Desam Party are set to crack the whip on “rebel” MLAs, who voted in favour of the no-confidence motion against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh late last night.
Of the total 15 rebels, who defied their respective party’s whip and voted in favour of the no-confidence motion, nine were from the Congress and six from the TDP.
“We will seek disqualification of these MLAs for having defied the party line,” the Congress and the TDP announced today.
“We will definitely seek disqualification of the nine rebel MLAs who voted against the government. We will petition Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar for disqualification after discussing the issue in the party,” Government Whip Dronamraju Srinivas told PTI.

TDP whip Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar also said they would soon file a petition with the Speaker seeking disqualification of six MLAs, who voted for the no-confidence motion and another legislator for having supported the motion when it was moved in the House.
The TDP will also issue a show-cause notice to another rebel MLA S Venugopalachari who stayed away from the proceedings without intimation yesterday.
The Congress government yesterday won a no-confidence motion moved by TRS and supported by YSR Congress and other opposition parties.

Capping a day-long acrimonious debate in the Assembly that went on till small hours of today, the motion was defeated by 84 votes in a head count by division. The no-confidence motion moved by TSR legislature party leader E Rajender got 58 votes in favour of it and 142 votes against it.The house has an effective The main opposition TDP remained neutral and the total number of neutral MLAs was 64.
The Congress MLAs who voted in favour of the no-confidence motion were: Sujaya Krishna Ranga Rao,
Dwarampudi Chandrasekhar Reddy, Alla Srinivas (Nani), M Rajesh, Perni Venkata Ramaiah (Nani), Jogi Ramesh, B Siva Prasad Reddy, Gottipati Ravi Kumar and Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy.