KAKINADA: Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday said the filing of criminal cases against five party MLAs who had raised the Sripadasagar issue in the Assembly could create a constitutional crisis and declared that he would mobilise support from national parties on the issue.

Mr. Naidu who cut short his three-day visit to the district and rushed to Hyderabad, told presspersons that he would camp in New Delhi in a day or two to highlight the issue.He gave a call to party units all over the State to stage protest demonstrations for the next two days in front of Ambedkar statues. He asked the party MLAs and MPs besides the Polit Bureau members to reach Hyderabad by Tuesday for urgent consultations.

Fears conflict

It was an affront to legislators and the immunity enjoyed by them and it could lead to conflict between the legislature and the executive, he said. "Booking cases against MLAs for raising an issue in legislature is unprecedented. It is nothing but subversion of the Constitution, reminiscent of the dark days of the emergency."

The Government's decision is bound to create a constitutional crisis. Besides national parties, the TDP would mobilise support from intellectuals, legal luminaries, and constitutional pundits in an attempt to fight the "undemocratic, draconian" action.

The party would seek a nationwide debate at various levels and strive for protecting the honour of the legislature and the immunity granted to legislators by the Constitution. Mr. Naidu said the action smacked of arrogance of power. "It is not the concern of TDP alone. Every party and every citizen should react and rise to the occasion against a patently unconstitutional action ."

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