In a major blow to the Telugu Desam Party, 4 Rajya Sabha MPs of the party was likely to join BJP. According to reports, YS Chowdary, CM Ramesh, TG Venkatesh and Garikapati Mohan Rao are likely to shift to BJP. Rao is Rajya Sabha MP from Telangana, while the other three are from Andhra Pradesh.
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The four members of the upper house are expected to send their resignation letters to Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu soon. According to speculations, another Rajya Sabha MP of TDP Thota Sitarama Lakshmi may also leave the party and join BJP. If that happens, Chandrababu Naidu will be left with just one MP in the upper house, Ravindra Kumar, who remains loyal to the party.
The party won just 3 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, and it will be a severe blow to the party within a month if 5 of its 6 Rajya Sabha MPs shift to BJP.
According to sources, senior BJP leaders, including general secretary Ram Madhav, and MoS Home G Kisan Reddy held several rounds of talks with the TDP leaders and invited to join BJP. BJP does not have a majority in the upper house, therefore it is keen in inducting Rajya Sabha MPs in the party.