Troubles for Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress are far from over after suffering a major drubbing at the hands of the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh as well as the Lok Sabha elections.
On Thursday, two YSRCP sitting Members of Parliament from Rajya Sabha — Beeda Masthan Rao and Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao — resigned from their membership of the Upper House after meeting RS Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar. The resignation has been accepted, sources in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat told News18.
The duo is likely to join the ruling TDP next week. Sources have indicated that Masthan Rao would be asked to return to the Upper House as a TDP candidate while Mopidevi will be asked to contest for an MLC post in the state assembly.
Mopidevi was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2020 and his term was till 2026. Sources have said TDP will retain the Rajya Sabha seat with itself, and would want to send an ex-serviceman on the seat. Meanwhile, Masthan Rao, who came to the Rajya Sabha in 2022, has a term up to 2028.
With the resignation of the two MPs, the strength of the YSR Congress has reduced further. The YSRCP now has nine MPs in place of 11. The party, which was voted out of power in the 2024 assembly elections, also managed to win just four seats in the Lok Sabha of the 25 seats. The major chunk of seats was won by Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP, which has 16 MPs, whereas BJP won two seats. Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena has two Lok Sabha MPs.
At present, the NDA has majority in the Upper House after the recent Rajya Sabha election victories, where they were able to win 10 out of 11 seats. The strength in Rajya Sabha stands presently at 114, which also includes a couple of nominated and Independent members. With the two TDP MPs sure to be re-elected, the NDA’s strength will only increase.
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