The Congress party, which has been completely wiped out of Andhra Pradesh in the last five years, is now on the verge of extinct even in Telangana.
The party, which won 19 out of 119 assembly seats in the 2018 December assembly elections, has already been reduced to a small group with just six MLAs, following merger of 12 MLAs with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
And in all probability, it will be further down to four MLAs, with the defection of two more legislators to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
On Monday, senior MLAs -- Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy from Munugode and T Jayaprakash Reddy from Sangareddy are all set to join the BJP. They are leaving for New Delhi to meet the BJP top bosses.
Another MLA – Podem Veeraiah from Bhadrachalam is also getting ready to take a plunge into the TRS and with that the Congress would be further down to three seats – Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, D Sridhar Babu and Seethakka.
We do not know how long leaders like Sridhar Babu and Seethakka will remain in the party.
The jubilant mood of the Congress after winning three MP seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections, also appears to be short-lived as two MPs – A Revanth Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy – are also said to be looking towards the BJP.
They might not immediately defect to the BJP, but might keep away from the Congress activities and be associated with the BJP in parliament.
Several other senior and middle-level Congress leaders are also planning to join the BJP, which appears to be the only alternative to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi by next assembly elections in Telangana.
Now that Uttam Kumar Reddy is going to Delhi as an MP, there is hardly anybody left in the Congress in Telangana, except old war horses like K Jana Reddy and V Hanumanth Rao, who are spent forces.
And the party is on the death bed and it will die a natural death by 2018, say analysts.