If what Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had hinted at in the Assembly on Wednesday is to be a reality and the AP Legislative Council is abolished, the major loser is not the ruling YSR Congress, but the Opposition TDP.
The TDP, which had lost the 2019 general election to the YSR Congress is now surviving only on the regular fight put-up by the party chief Chandrababu Naidu and in out of the Assembly.
He is, despite the age factor turning disadvantage, on the roads almost every day, on one issue or the other, to keep the party alive.
His party had won just 23 seats in the 2019 general elections, which was a humiliating defeat to the leader of the stature of Chandrababu Naidu, who has four decades of political experience and having served as chief minister for close to 15 years.
The man who wielded his whip in the national politics at one time, was thus reduced to a small sub-regional party chief in the elections.
The only face saving place for the TDP is the AP Legislative Council, where the party is in majority and holds its chairman and vice-chairman posts.
It was this strength that had given some political advantage to the TDP, particularly on Jagan Mohan Reddy’s plans to have three capitals for the State.
It was in the Legislative Council that the TDP could manage the bill to be referred to the select committee. The TDP has 31 members in the 58-member Council, including the chairman and vice-chairman.
Angered at this, Jagan Mohan Reddy had hinted at abolishing the Council and had posted the decision for discussion in the Legislative Assembly for Monday. What decision he would take on the day is known to him and his close confidants.
But the question is who would be the main loser if the Legislative Council is abolished! It is obviously the TDP. Its voice would be restricted in the Assembly and would lose the chance to raise it in the Council. It would be left to fight on the streets.
Besides, the party would also lose the protocol benefits in some districts, where the MLCs represent the party. Its senior leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu would be reduced to the party spokesperson level to air his views.
The young leader and aspiring to be the chief minister of the State any time, Nara Lokesh, would be stripped off his chance and security.
Above, all, the party will have less access to the administration in the districts and hence the party top leaders are coming to terms with the government, the sources indicate.
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