The proposed defection of YSR Congress party MLAs and their followers into the ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh might bring a lot of jubilation to the party, particularly its president N Chandrababu Naidu, but it is causing a lot of embarrassment to the Telangana Telugu Desam Party leaders.
All these days, the T-TDP leaders have been crying hoarse over the “Operation Akarsh” of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Telangana region, aimed at attracting large number of TDP legislators into it.
They have lodged a complaint with Assembly Speaker seeking disqualification of the defected MLAs and even moved the High Court. They have also questioned the propriety of giving Cabinet berth to Talasani Srinivasa Yadav, who is technically still in the TDP, though he had defected to the TRS long ago.
Now, applying the same yardstick to the TDP in Andhra Pradesh, the party leaders in Telangana will have no moral ground to question the TRS.
In AP, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu is blatantly admitting the YSR Congress party MLAs and is said to be offering cabinet berths to a couple of them.
These defecting MLAs are also refusing to give up their Assembly membership, as in the case of TDP legislators who defected to the TRS in Telangana.
At least in Telangana, more than two-thirds of TDP legislators jumped the fence and hence, have escaped the provisions of anti-defection law.
But in AP, there is no such situation and defecting MLAs will have to quit their posts, if they have to go by the arguments of the Telangana TDP. Can they do that?
