ANDHRA PRADESH Jagan to do U-turn on TD defections

AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is likely to change his stand on defections. He hopes to start ‘Operation Aakarsh’ soon to attract Telugu Desam Legislative Council members.

According to top sources, key persons in the Central government have advised Mr Reddy to ‘manage’ the TD’s MLCs instead of abolishing the AP Legislative Council.

Through that, they informed him, in the coming days, YSRC’s strength in the Council will increase and TD’s strength will decrease. In the next two years, YSRC will get the majority and politically it will help the party in providing opportunities to some of its leaders to become MLCs.

In the 58-member AP Council at present, the TD has 26 members and the YSRC nine. The other Opposition and independent members are 20 and four seats are vacant.

Three TD MLCs have joined the YSRC, and the TD is left with 23 members.

After becoming Chief Minister, Mr Reddy in his first speech in the Assembly had said that he would not encourage defections. If any MLA wanted to join the YSRC, he or she has to resign first. But in the changed political circumstances, Mr Reddy has had to change his mind and follow what TD supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu did when he was in power.

In the Assembly, too, the YSRC will attract MLAs and make Mr Naidu lose his Opposition leader status. In the coming days, Mr Reddy is likely to aggressively up the ante in his bid to vanquish Mr Naidu.