Hyderabad: Telangana Assembly Speaker Madhusudana Chary on Friday merged all three legislators of opposition YSR Congress Party with ruling the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).In a bulletin to this effect, the speaker said that all the members of YSR Congress legislature party had submitted a letter, stating that they have merged with TRS legislature party.Taking action on their letter, the speaker allotted seats to them along with members of TRS Legislature Party.

The development came two days after one legislator and the lone member of parliament of YSR Congress in Telangana joined the TRS. Two legislators had already switched loyalties to the ruling party.In March, the speaker had allowed 12 legislators of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to merge with TRS legislature party.

With the two mergers, the strength of TRS in 120-member assembly has officially gone up to 81. The actual strength is 89 as eight legislators of the main opposition Congress have also crossed over.The TRS had bagged 63 assembly seats in 2014 elections but since then legislators from various opposition parties have defected to the ruling party.

YSR Congress party has suffered yet another jolt on Friday with one of its senior MLAs from Kurnool district S V Mohan Reddy announcing his resignation from the party.Mohan Reddy is going to join the Telugu Desam Party in the presence of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu during the latter’s visit to Kurnool on Saturday.

And like all his previous colleagues, Mohan Reddy, too, blamed it on the style of functioning of YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy for his decision to join the TDP.“He does not give priority to human relations. When my sister Shoba Nagi Reddy died, Jagan wanted me to field my uncle S V Nagi Reddy against Shoba’s daughter Akhila Priya in Allagadda. But I refused,” he said.

He refuted the allegations that he was being purchased by the TDP.“How much money did Jagan pay me, when I joined his party? I was a Congress MLC then. I have my own credibility among the people of my constituency,” he said.

Now that the BJP high command’s stand on special status to Andhra Pradesh is loud and clear, its 2014 poll partner and the ruling party in AP, the TDP government, is in extreme pressure from all corners to severe all ties with BJP to save its own face in front of millions of Telugus who feel betrayed by the BJP.

According to the internal buzz in the TDP circles, the party’s think-tank is seriously mulling over breaking up with BJP after all its desperate pleas regarding the special status over the past 2 years were rejected by the Modi government.During all the recent discussions in both the houses of Parliament over the special status, several BJP leaders maintained that special status cannot be granted to AP as the centre has given more than what AP deserved.

TDP MPs like Jayadev Galla, Avanti Srinivas and CM Ramesh have openly lambasted BJP and its prominent leaders like M Venkaiah Naidu, Jayant Sinha and Arun Jaitely on their backtracking in the Parliament, hinting that the TDP is determined to take on BJP from here on.

With opposition parties YSRCP and Congress intensifying their protests and simultaneously exerting pressure, it’s high time that TDP pulls up its socks and fight with BJP for special status, which might sustain the trust factor among the citizens of Andhra Pradesh before things turn worse.