Jagga Reddy and Gandra

HYDERABAD: In a fresh blow to Congress, three more of its MLAs are set to join Telangana Rashtra Samithi . The legislators, T Jayaprakash Reddy (Sangareddy), P Veeraiah ( Bhadrachalam ) and G Venkatramana Reddy (Bhoopalpalli) are expected to formally join the ruling party on April 24, TRS sources said on Saturday.

With these three, the total number of Congress MLAs leaving the party would climb to 13. As that would be more than two thirds of the total strength of 19 MLAs, their decision to merge with the TRS Legislature Party is said to be legal.

This decision taken by defectors to merge the Congress Legislature Party with the TRSLP in the assembly can be formalised soon as the assembly is likely to meet in June first week. The Congress will be left only with only six legislators - Uttam Kumar Reddy, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, D Sridhar Babu, Rajagopal Reddy, Rohit Reddy and Seethakka.

In the elections held in December 2018, the TRS won 88 seats and the Congress 19. The Congress was in alliance with the TDP in the last year’s assembly polls. However, two TDP legislators – Sandra Venkata Veeraiah of Sattupalli and M Nageswara Rao of Aswaraopet announced their decision to join the TRS. This, and the decision of 13 Congress MLAs will take the strength of the TRS in the assembly to 103.

Sangareddy legislator Jagga Reddy had been a bitter critic of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao during the elections but emerged victorious despite the TRS wave and also former irrigation minister T Harish Rao particularly concentrating on the constituency to ensure his defeat. Soon after the TRS formed the government, Jagga Reddy openly showed inclination to join the TRS saying that he had nothing personal against KCR. Jagga Reddy had also been jailed in an alleged visa scam and was released before the elections on bail.

Party doing nothing to get TDP, Cong MLAs: TRS

The TRS leadership claimed that the party had done nothing to get MLAs of either the TDP or the Congress to defect. “They have themselves shown the interest to join the party and it is because they are, as public representatives, interested in the development of their constituencies,” TRS working president KT Rama Rao had said sometime back when asked about the MLAs of the Congress and TDP choosing to the join the ruling party.

Congress party leaders, including TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy had alleged that the ruling party was wooing its legislators, a charge that the TRS denied. CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka had also alleged that the chief minister was conspiring to eliminate all opposition in the assembly by engineering defections.

In the 2018 elections, the MIM won seven seats and the BJP one. The MIM is a friendly party of the TRS.

After the results of the assembly polls were announced in December 2018, two Independent MLAs K Chander from Ramagundam and L Ramulu Naik from Wyra, Khammam, announced their decision to sail with the TRS.

