PRP rebel legislator appears before Andhra speaker

Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) rebel legislator Shoba Nagi Reddy on Monday met Andhra Pradesh assembly Speaker N. Manohar to give her reply to the disqualification notice.Speaking to reporters later, she said the PRP had no right to seek her disqualification as the party no longer exists, following its merger with the Congress. “When there is no party, how can it issue a whip?” said Shoba, who is opposed to the PRP’s merger with the Congress.The notice was issued by Speaker Manohar to the legislator from Avanigadda in Kurnool district following a petition of the PRP to disqualify her for violating the party whip.Shoba, a loyalist of YSR Congress leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy, had violated the PRP whip by voting for the no-confidence motion moved by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) against the Congress government.The government defeated the no-confidence motion in a vote on Dec.5. The PRP, which has already announced its merger with the Congress, had issued a whip asking all its 18 legislators to vote against the motion.Meanwhile, the speaker is likely to issue notices to 16 rebel Congress legislators for voting in favour of the no-confidence motion.