Most of the YSRCP MPs in Parliament are ending up as a disinterested lot in Lok Sabha. Their attendance is poor and their level of participation too is minimal. Interestingly, renegade YSRCP MP Raghuramakrishnam Raju is the best among the lot. In comparison, the TDP MPs are more active in the Lok Sabha.

According to the latest data released by PRS Legislative Research, an organisation that studies parliamentary and legislative affairs, Raghuramakrishnam Raju is the most active MP from AP. His attendance is a staggering 96 per cent. In fact, his performance as an MP is the best by any standards. He had taken party in as many as 50 debates and asked 145 questions.

The TDP has three MPs and the performance of all the three has been satisfactory. Guntur MP Galla Jayadev has 89 per cent attendance. He had taken part in 54 debates and asked 133 questions. Vijayawada MP Kesineni Nani too has 89 per cent attendance. Srikakulam MP K Rammohan Naidu is a regular fixture in the parliamentary debates and is known for his oratorical skills in both English and Hindi.

Among the ruling party MPs, YS Jagan’s cousin YS Avinash Reddy has a poor record. His attendance is a mere 32 per cent. He had participated in only one debate during the last two years. Bapalta MP Nandigam Suresh too has 45 per cent attendance. He participated in one debate, but did not ask even one question. The better performing MP from the YSRCP is Kakinada MP Vanga Geetha Viswanath. She has participated in 37 debates and asked 173 questions.

Till a few months ago, if a YSRCP MP met any union minister or Lok Sabha speaker, it was to raise the issues pertaining to state. But of late, the only reason why the YSRCP leaders are meeting the Central ministers, speaker or prime minister, there is only one reason. The reason is a white-clad tall man called Raghuramakrishnam Raju.

He has become a thorn in the flesh of the YSRCP, but YSRCP as of now doesn’t seem to know how to remove him. It has petitioned Speaker several times to take action against Raghuramakrishnam Raju for violating the provisions of the anti-defection law. MPs met Speaker Om Birla twice. Very recently, YSRCP parliamentary party leader Mithun Reddy met Om Birla to plead for the disqualification of Raghuramakrishnam Raju.

Despite YSRCP’s bonhomie with the BJP and despite Jagan’s friendship with Modi, the YSRCP is unable to get rid of Raju. It is now worried that Raju will rise issues in Parliament that will put the YSRCP in a spot. If a party member speaking against the party in Lok Sabha, it would be a huge embarrassment.

Even on Friday, YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP and party general secretary Vijaysai Reddy met Om Birla and petitioned about Raju’s ouster. However, from the body language of Vijaysai, it is clear that Om Birla’s response was lukewarm. Reddy even charged the speaker with a bias. This, analysts feel, will further drive a wedge between the speaker and the YSRCP. Things may only get more complicated, they argue. But as of now, the YSRCP is finding Raghuramakrishnam Raju a very tough nut to crack.

Three Members of Parliament from the ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh, V. Vijayasai Reddy, Mithun Reddy and Margani Bharat, met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday and renewed their call for disqualifying rebel MP Kanumuru Raghurama Krishna Raju.

“We submitted additional evidence to the Speaker with regard to our petition to disqualify Narasapuram MP Raghurama Krishna Raju,” said Rajya Sabha member and senior YSRCP leader V. Vijayasai Reddy.

Nearly a year has passed since the ruling party first asked Birla to disqualify Raju.

The Narasapuram MP continues to enjoy a rapport with most of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in the national capital.

On Wednesday Raju met Birla in his office and called it a ‘courtesy call’. He also met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

“Met Union Jal Shakti Minister Shekhawat and discussed about the current situation in the state,” claimed Raju.

He also met Kishan Reddy after his swearing in as a Union Cabinet minister and ‘congratulated’ him.

Meanwhile, Vijayasai Reddy, Mithun Reddy and Bharat commemorated former chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s 72nd birth anniversary with orphans at Bal Sahayog in Delhi.

Raju also paid tributes to Rajasekhar Reddy, father of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, against whom he is waging a war.

“On the occasion of the birth anniversary of a king-like person and a man with a heart, Rajasekhar Reddy, I pay my tributes,” said Raju.

Sporting a white shirt, a full moustache and neatly dyed wig, Raju featured in and disseminated two videos eulogizing the late and popular CM.

According to Raju, if anybody ‘commented’ on Rajasekhar Reddy, the latter would just laugh away those comments and never resort to any vengeance or aggressive retaliation.

Raju is talking from the position of a party member who made several ‘comments’ about his leader Jagan Mohan Reddy, including ‘bearing the fruits’ and reaping the ‘consequences’ for those comments lately.

Recently, a group of Dalits from Garagaparru village who claimed to have voted for the Narasapuram MP lodged a complaint with the police in Andhra, demanding his arrest for failing to fulfil the promises he made during elections. They complained that the MP is always absent.

For the past several months, Raju has been mostly dividing his time between Hyderabad and Delhi, ignoring his Narasapuram constituency where several villages continue to suffer from lack of even potable drinking water.