On Friday, a delegation of Members of Parliament (MPs) from YSRCP had reportedly met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and demanded the disqualification of the party member and MP, Raghurama Krishna Raju. He was elected from the Lok Sabha constituency of Narsapuram in Andhra Pradesh and had been a vocal critic of the current political dispensation in the State in recent times.
The delegation was led by Rajya Sabha MP V Vijaysai Reddy who alleged that Raju had used unparliamentary language against fellow party members and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy. He further claimed that the outspoken MP had ‘colluded’ with opposition party members against his own party. V Vijaysai Reddy is the Chief Secretary of YSRCP.
“He has never discussed his inconvenience within the party forum anytime, instead, took it up in the public, going against the party guidelines. The anti-defection law applies to Raghurama Krishna Raju, who contradicted the party rules, and he even misused the freedom of speech, and Section 10 should be invoked,” Reddy was quoted as saying. As per Mithun Reddy, floor leader of YSRCP in the Lok Sabha, Raju’s reply to the notice served by him was ‘irresponsible.’ He blamed the latter for forcing him to seek disqualification from Om Birla.
Raju had earlier accused YSRCP of being involved in caste politics and corruption. He had also met Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Secretary Ajay Bhalla, and also launched a song praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Raju had also served a notice to V Vijaysai Reddy and accused him of doing harm to the party. He had also moved the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the High Court.
YSRCP MP claims threat to life
Last month, in a letter to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, the YSRCP politician had alleged threats to his life from his party members. He had claimed that the local police did not take action on his complaints and thus demanded tighter security from the Centre. “One MLA has publicly abused me in filthy language and threatened to kill me. The YSRC cadre has also been issuing threats in the last few days. As the local police did not take any action against those people, I sought protection from the Lok Sabha Speaker,” Raju was quoted as saying.
Exposes Mass Conversions in Andhra Pradesh
Earlier, had made an explosive admission on a debate on Times Now where he admitted that the Christian missionaries in Andhra Pradesh were using money to carry out widespread religious conversions in the state. Raju asserted that the religious conversions in Andhra Pradesh were not a recent phenomenon after Jagan Mohan Reddy assumed the office of Chief Minister but that they continued to happen extensively across the state even before he became the chief minister.
He also defended the rampant religious conversions in the state by claiming that such proselytisation has been prevalent across the country and is not limited to Andhra Pradesh alone.