Telugu Desam party may expel rebel MPs

Hyderabad: Two rebel Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MPs, who defied the party to vote for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the trust vote, are likely to be expelled - with one joining the Congress and the other actor Chiranjeevi's soon-to-be-launched party.

The MPs are D.K. Adikeshavulu Naidu, who represents Chittoor in the Lok Sabha, and Manda Jagannatham from Nagarkurnool.

Both defied the party whip on Tuesday to vote for the trust motion, causing major embarrassment to TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, who was at the forefront of efforts to defeat it.

Shocked by their defiance, the TDP leadership is planning to expel both MPs a decision on which would be taken in a day or two, party sources said.

The open revolt brought down the TDP's strength in the Lok Sabha to four.

Setback

The TDP suffered the setback at a time when the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister was trying to re-emerge as a key leader in national politics and forge a grand alliance with the Left parties and the Bahujan Samaj Party. While Adikeshavulu Naidu's vote was declared invalid on technical grounds, Jagannatham's was counted among the 275 polled in favour of the government.

Adikeshavulu Naidu's vote was reportedly declared invalid by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. He could not cast his vote electronically and signed the specified slip marking his choice but later rushed to the speaker to say he had "erroneously" cast his vote against the government though he wanted to support it.