HYDERABAD: A day after his trusted lieutenant Errabelli Dayakar Rao’s defection to the ruling TRS, TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday seems to have begun a balancing act for his party in the sibling states, even as another TTDP MLA S Rajender Reddy, shifted his allegiance to the ruling TRS, taking the total number of TDP’s defected MLAs in the TS Assembly to 10.
The TDP boss sent out feelers that at least six MLAs of the opposition party in the AP Assembly, the YSRC, were ready to join the ruling party, at any time.
As soon as he landed in Hyderabad, Naidu tried to instil confidence among his party cadre in Telangana, where the party is almost on the verge of ‘extinction’, by giving them pep talk.
In a bid to keep the remaining MLAs of his party in Telangana intact, the TDP boss held an emergency extended executive meeting with his party’s Telangana leaders at NTR Trust Bhavan here.
During the meeting, Naidu became philosophical and tried to boost the confidence of his partymen, saying, “TDP is the only party which emerged unscathed after facing one crisis after another in the entire country. I am sure the ongoing defections from our party will not affect the future of this time-tested party.”
Interestingly, a few minutes later, another TDP MLA from Telangana, Rajender Reddy (Narayanpet), who shared dais with his boss during the TTDP meeting, embraced the pink party much to the discomfiture of Naidu.
Before deciding to bid adieu to the yellow party, the MLA even gave a piece of advice to his boss while taking part in the meeting.
“Even though the TDP is in power in one state, there is a sense of disillusionment among us. We are of the view that some thing lacks in the party. So, it is the responsibility of you sir to rectify the lacunae and keep the flock united in Telangana,” Rajender Reddy said.
Soon after the meeting, Reddy resigned to the TDP and announced that he would join the TRS. With this latest defection, total number of TDP MLAs, who joined TRS, goes up to ten out of the total 15 elected on TDP nomination during the last Assembly polls.
Interestingly, the TDP, which is losing its MLAs to the ruling TRS in Telangana, appears to have intensified efforts to engineer defections from the YSRC in AP to consolidate its position.
Proving this, YSRC Vijayawada West MLA Jaleel Khan on Thursday morning called on Naidu in Vijayawada. Irrigation minister Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao said, “Several MLAs belonging to the Opposition are ready to join the ruling TDP as they want to take part in the developmental process of the reorganised state.”
But, later, Jaleel Khan made it clear that he had no plans to quit YSRC and said he had met the chief minister only to request him to construct a Haz House in the new state similar to the one in Hyderabad.
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