Even as the budget session of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to commence from Monday, the main Opposition YSR Congress Party is getting rocked by continuing defections.
In the latest jolt to Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, yet another MLA of his Party, Mani Gandhi, defected to the TDP saying that he was doing so in the overall interest of his Kodumuru constituency.
With this, the number of YSR Congress MLAs who have jumped onto the TDP bandwagon has risen to seven (an MLC has also quit the YSRCP and joined the TDP). This includes MLA Venkataramana who has already
announced his resignation from the YSRCP, and is expected to formally admitted into TDP in a day or two.
Jagan, who is the founder-president of the YSR Congress and also the Leader of Opposition in the AP Assembly, seems to have only himself to blame for his Party becoming a sinking ship. There is no denial that his recent comments that many TDP MLAs were in touch with him and that he could pull down the TDP government at any time have boomeranged on him. Those comments sparked off the defections, and with each passing day the strength of Jagan's party is dwindling.
Speculations are rife that within the next few days before the commencement of the budget session, more MLAs from the YSRCP might defect into the TDP.