TDP Delegation Meets Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu to Explain MP Defection Not Legal

New Delhi, June 21 : A delegation of five MPs of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) met Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu on Friday to challenge the defection of party MPs to BJP a day ago.
The TDP delegation comprised two Rajya Sabha MPs and three Lok Sabha members.
After the meeting party leader Jaydev Galla said, “Yesterday, four Rajya Sabha members of TDP had given a letter saying that they were merging the legislature party in Rajya Sabha and since they have two-thirds majority, it should be accepted without any disqualification.”
However, he said that they went through the law and learnt that the merger of a party can only occur at the organisational level. “It cannot take place at legislature party level. Since TDP & BJP have not merged at the organisational level, this is not a legal merger,” he said.
He added, “This is what we explained to Vice-President, he said that he will review the legalities of it & do whatever is necessary according to the law. We have to wait & see. We’ve given the letter, will be giving letter to Parliamentary Affairs Minister also.
On Thursday, four TDP Rajya Sabha MPs resigned from the party with three of them joining the BJP. The MPs tendered their resignation to Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu after showing keenness to join the BJP in Delhi. The leaders are Y S Chowdhury, T G Venkatesh, G M Rao, and C M Ramesh.
Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister in a message to TDP leaders and cadre said, “We fought with BJP only for Special Category Status & state’s interests. We sacrificed Central Ministers for Special Status, condemn attempts of BJP to weaken TDP. Crisis is not new to the party. Leaders & cadre have nothing to be nervous about.”