In the recently concluded Andhra Pradesh assembly elections, Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP lost badly as it could win only 11 seats out of the total 175. The TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance swept the polls winning 164 seats. The YSRCP don’t have enough numbers to get its Rajya Sabha MPs reelected and thus, its current MPs are looking towards the ruling TDP to secure another term. Andhra sends 11 MPs to the upper and all of them were from the YSRCP.
Now, two of the YSRCP Rajya Sabha MPs have resigned and six more are likely to follow suit, reported the Indian Express. Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao and Beedha Masthan Rao Yadav have resigned from the Rajya Sabha and are likely to join the TDP. The two leaders recently met Andhra CM and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. As per reports, Venkataramana will go to the Rajya Sabha once again on the TDP symbol, Masthan has agreed to join the party unconditionally.
Although Venkataramana, a multiple-term MLA and former minister in the Cabinets of N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was considered a loyal supporter of Jagan, he has been dissatisfied with the YSRCP after being denied a ticket for the Repalle Assembly seat in the recent elections.
As per reports, TDP leaders claimed that at least six more YSRCP Rajya Sabha MPs may quit the house to join either the BJP or the TDP. If this happens, this will further boost the NDA prospects in the Rajya Sabha as the ruling alliance has already achieved a majority mark in the upper house.
During his time in the Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet, Venkataramana, along with former minister Dharmana Prasad Rao, was arrested by the CBI in connection with the alleged Vadarevu and Nizampatnam Industrial Corridor (VANPIC) scam.
The other YSRCP MP who resigned from the party on Thursday, Masthan, is well-known in Andhra political circles for his close ties to Naidu. Masthan recently made headlines when his daughter was involved in an accident in Chennai, where she struck a man with her luxury car. Masthan is also an industrialist and serves as the chairman of the BMR Group of Companies, one of the country’s largest shrimp exporters.
