Finally, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had captured the Upper House in the State.
The ruing YSR Congress party’s strength in the Legislative Council had shot up to 21, while the opposition TDP’s strength had scaled down to 11.
The YSR Congress started its political career with 151 MLAs in the 175-Member Assembly. But, it had to face rough weather in the Legislative Council, where its strength was just 11, while the TDP had 28 members in the 58-member House.
The ruling YSR Congress faced several hardships in the Legislative Council with the TDP trying to undo whatever the YSR Congress does in the Assembly.
At one point of time, Jagan Mohan Reddy had forced the Assembly to pass a resolution to abolish the Legislative Council. The resolution is pending with the Central government.
However, before the Central government could do anything, the TDP started losing its strength in the House, with the YSR Congress adding to its numbers.
Last week on this day, the TDP had lost 4 MLCs nominated in the Governor’s quota, while the YSR Congress gained all those four MLCs.
This week, 10 TDP MLCs and one YSR Congress MLC, who won from the local bodies, retired bringing down the TDP’s strength in the House to 11.
The TDP’s loud mouths in the House, Buddha Venkanna, Y V B Rajendra Prasad, were among others who retired on June 18.
The BJP had lost its AP president Somu Veerraju from the House, while TDP’s M A Shariff and R Subrahmanyam, both chairman and vice-chairman of the House, retired this month.
The YSR Congress now could have its members as Chairman and vice-chairman, besides enjoying the unquestionable majority in the House.