After facing a humiliating defeat in the hands of the formidable NDA alliance (TDP, JSP, and BJP) in the recent assembly elections, YSRCP president and former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has become the target of intense criticism from all quarters for all the misdeeds he committed when he was in power.
Now that the new cabinet has been formed and the stage is set for the new government to kick off the assembly sessions on Wednesday, all 175 MLAs will take the oath in the presence of a pro-term speaker, and this will be followed by the announcement of a new speaker. Chintakayala Ayyannapatrudu is almost finalized as the speaker of the new government.
Meanwhile, social media is abuzz with the debate on whether YSRCP president and Pulivendula MLA Jagan Mohan Reddy will dare to attend the assembly session on the first day or not. This is because his party has secured only 11 MLAs and lost even opposition status as well. Moreover, he will need to face the barrage of criticism from all 164 MLAs of the NDA alliance in the assembly for the ignominious defeat in the elections.
As YSRCP hasn’t secured opposition status, Jagan won’t be given any special preference in the assembly with regard to his sitting arrangement. But if the TDP wishes to accord him the status of opposition leader, then Jagan will have a chance to sit in the first row of the assembly, facing the Chief Minister’s seat.
As of now, it is unclear whether the TDP is considering such a move because the opposition leader will have to be given all the perks and benefits of a cabinet minister. If not, all YSRCP MLAs, including Jagan, will need to sit in the back seats. So, it would be interesting to see if Jagan attends the first day of assembly or not. If he chooses to skip the session, he may have to take the oath as MLA in the speaker’s chamber at a later date.
During 2014–19, Jagan skipped assembly sessions several times, citing various reasons. He was criticized by political analysts for not respecting the mandate and losing the trust of the people.