Vijaysai Reddy Bill against defections to come up before KVP Bill

YCP's Vijaysai Reddy is fulfilling what he has set out to do in Parliament, to put an end to defections by people's representatives without let or hindrance. Vijaysai Reddy proposed amendments in the Anti-Defection law by which the Speaker's powers to act or not to act on a defection are transferred to the State Election Commission in the case of State assemblies or councils. It seeks to vest the punitive powers with the Election Commission which could suspend an MLA or MLC within 3 months of defection. Virtually, the Bill seeks to strip the powers of the Speaker and vest them with the Election Commission. At present in the Telugu States, over one score MLAs in Andhra Pradesh and over a dozen MLAs in Telangana have defected to the ruling parties. In both the States, the YCP lost its MLAs to the ruling parties. The Private Member Bill arises from the defections by YCP MLAs in the Telugu States. The Vijaysai Reddy Bill is expected to come up before the Rajya Sabha ahead of the KVP Ramachandra Rao Private Member Bill on Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh.