Uttam Kumar Reddy (second from left) along with Congress MLAs stages a protest at the Gandhi Statue inside the... Read More

HYDERABAD: In a big jolt to Congress , which thought it was on the comeback trail in Telangana after winning three of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state, 12 of its MLAs were recognised as members of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi ( TRS ) by speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy on Thursday evening after they met him and submitted a letter seeking merger of their group with the ruling party.

This leaves Congress with just six MLAs in the 119-member house. Congress is set to lose the status of the second largest party in the house as that honour will now go to the seven-member AIMIM. TRS numbers have now gone up from 90 to 102 in the assembly.

Capping a day of fast-paced political developments, Reddy acceded to the request of the MLAs as their numbers met the requisite two-thirds strength of the legislature party for merger under the anti-defection law.

A bulletin from the assembly on Thursday night said seats had been allotted to the 12 MLAs along with the members of the TRS legislature party in the house.

Until Thursday morning, the 11-member rebel group in Congress was one MLA short of the number required for defection. But things changed rapidly with Tandur legislator P Rohit Reddy joining their ranks.

Rohit Reddy decided to desert Congress a day after the party’s strength in the assembly fell to 18 following the resignation of TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy from the House as he has been elected from the Nalgonda Lok Sabha seat.

Uttam Reddy protested against the move by targeting TRS, saying, “This is completely illegal. KCR is making a mockery of the mandate of the people of Telangana.”

Before meeting the speaker, the MLAs met TRS working president K T Rama Rao and sought his consent to merge their group with the TRS legislature party.

After receiving a memorandum with signatures of 12 leaders, the speaker allowed the merger under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution and directed officials to allot them seats on the treasury benches in the assembly.

The MLAs who have switched sides are Atram Sakku, J Surendar, Sudheer Reddy, Haripriya Naik, R Kantha Rao, G Venkataramana Reddy, Vanama Venkateswar Rao, Rohit Reddy, Upendar Reddy, Ch Lingaiah, Sabita Indra Reddy and Harshavardhan Reddy.

Sources said another Congress MLA, T Jayaprakash Reddy, may also join TRS soon.



In Video: Telangana: 12 Congress MLAs meet assembly Speaker, demand merger with TRS