Hyderabad: In a big jolt to the Congress in Telangana, as many as 12 of its 18 MLAs on Thursday sought merger of their group with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
The MLAs met Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and gave him a representation in this regard after Tandur MLA Rohith Reddy became the 12th Congress legislator to jump ship, boosting the strength of the defectors to two-thirds of the state Congress Legislature Party.
Since early March, 11 Congress MLAs had switched sides before Rohith Reddy moved over to the ruling camp on Thursday.
Congress strength in the 119-member House came down to 18 after Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President N Uttam Kumar Reddy tendered his resignation from the Assembly Wednesday after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Nalgonda in the recent elections.
Senior Congress legislator Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy told reporters that the 12 MLAs decided to work with the chief minister for the “development of the State.”
He claimed the people of the state were with them and supported their move. (PTI)
