YSRCP MPs, A Threat To Jagan?

If the ongoing speculations in political circles turn out to be true, 10 out of the 15 MPs ( Loksabha and Rajyasabha) representing the YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh are likely to jump fence into the Bharatiya Janata party in the coming days.

It is a known fact that the Jagan Mohan Reddy’s party was defeated in an unprecedented manner by the NDA alliance in both the assembly and parliament segments. Despite facing outright humiliation with only 11 MLAs out of the 175, the YSRCP managed to secure MP seats out of 25.

Usually, politicians from losing parties wait for opportunity to defect into the ruling party so as to keep their political identities alive and also to protect their business interests. In the past, 4 out of the six Rajyasabha MPs of TDP joined the BJP immediately after the Naidu’s government suffered a huge setback in the assembly elections.

Now that the YSRCP lost the opposition status in the assembly. Moreover, the BJP forged a pre-poll alliance with the TDP. So, there is no relevance for the YSRCP both at the state level and the centre. Hence, their MPs Mithun Reddy and Avinash Reddy are mulling to jump into the BJP. While Mithun Reddy wants to safeguard his business interests, Avinash Reddy is looking to come clean in the YS Vivekananda Reddy murder which is being handled by the CBI.

In Rajyasabha, the YSRCP has 11 MPs who will have tenure until 2026 to 2030. Prominent names like Vijaysai Reddy, YV Subba Reddy, Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, Mopidevi Venkatarama are among those MPs.

As the BJP needs support of Rajyasabha MPs to pass some important bills, it would definitely put pressure on some of these leaders to desert the YSRCP and come into it. So, there is strong chances that more than half of these MPs shifting loyalties very soon.

But, the most crucial thing now is who will be the next Loksabha Speaker. As the TDP and JDU are alliance partners, it was initially expected that one of these parties will demand the speaker post to lend unconditional support towards the NDA. However, there is no clarity on this till now.

If the TDP gets hold of the coveted speaker post, it would be interesting to see if the YSRCP leaders submit their resignations to join the BJP. Moreover, will the BJP welcome YSRCP’s MPs when TDP is an alliance partners with it at the centre ? Only time will say how the drama unfolds.