TRS apart, BJP also big threat to Congress in Telangana

HYDERABAD: Congress is gushing over winning three Lok Sabha seats and also improving its vote share in Telangana after the December drubbing in the assembly polls. The euphoria could be short-lived if the party fails to keep its flock together, sources said.
Eleven of 19 MLAs have already defected to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the party will lose opposition status in the assembly if two more of its legislators switch sides.Analysts say though Congress has won thee Lok Sabha seats as against two in 2014, it may not be enough to stop exodus from the party to TRS. The ‘operation akarsh’ launched by TRS has already done enough damage to Congress with many of its leaders, MLAs, MPTCs and ZPTCs having quit the party to join the ruling party.

“A resurgent BJP will pose a threat to Congress after its wins in four Lok Sabha seats. Senior leader who served as AICC secretary Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy and former minister DK Aruna joined BJP before the Lok Sabha polls. With four seats in its kitty, the saffron party will try to lure Congress leaders,” a senior party leader said.
At least two Congress legislators were waiting for the Lok Sabha results so that it would give them an opportunity to decide on crossing the fence to TRS or BJP. Sources said TRS would intensify its operation akarsh in a bid to ensure merger of Congress legislature party into TRSLP.
The ruling TRS needs two more MLAs, taking the total number of Congress legislators who have defected to TRS to 13. This would ensure merger of CLP into TRSLP, a senior TRS leader said.