Jagan MLAs want all bypolls held together

HYDERABAD: All the 16 Congress and one PRP MLA, who are in YS JaganMohan Reddy’s camp, urged the Election Commission to hold the by-elections for the seven seats that had already fallen vacant and those for their own constituencies together. In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner (EC), they alleged that though the Speaker had not declared them as disqualified though the proceedings were completed, under pressure from the Congress.They said that seven seats had fallen vacant in the Assembly, of which six are in Telangana and one in Coastal Andhra. This apart, on December 5, 17 MLAs of the Congress and PRP voted against the government in the Assembly in defiance of the whips of their respective parties and yet they were not disqualified. They suspected that the Congress leadership was not confident of facing by-elections and hence the delay in disqualifying them. “If the Speaker announces his decision soon, the by-elections to these 17 vacancies can also be held along with the by-polls for the seven seats that had already fallen vacant. The Congress government in the state, having no confidence whatsoever to face the elections, is requesting the Speaker to delay his decision on disqualification to gain time, they said.