Vijayawada: The strength of YSR Congress dwindled further in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly as two more of its MLAs on Thursday switched over to the ruling TDP, taking the total number of legislators to quit the party so far to 16.
Apart from the sitting MLAs, a former legislator also joined the TDP.
YSRC's Srisailam MLA Budda Rajasekhar Reddy and Araku Valley MLA K Sarveswara Rao were admitted to the TDP fold by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at separate functions here.
Former MLA Gandi Babji also joined the TDP. He was a close follower of late Congress veteran and and former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and represented Pendurthi constituency in Visakhapatnam district from 2004 to 2009.
The cross over of legislators from the YSRC began in February this year when four of them crossed over to the ruling party.
Since then there has been a steady exit of legislators from the opposition party.
With today's development, the YSRC's strength in the 176-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly came down from 67 to 51.
Meanwhile, the Telugu Desam Party took a dim view of Jaganmohan Reddy being granted audience by Union ministers in New Delhi in the last two days.
TDP spokesperson P Anuradha expressed unhappiness over Jagan being granted audience by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
The YSRC president, who is also Leader of Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, met the Union Home Minister and also Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi in the last two days and handed over a booklet 'The Emperor of Corruption' to them, alleging corrupt deals to the tune of Rs 1.34 lakh crore in the two-year rule of Chandrababu Naidu.
Jagan also complained to the Union ministers that Chandrababu had been allegedly "purchasing" the YSRC MLAs with the "ill-gotten money".
"The allegations Jagan made are utterly baseless. The booklet is nothing but a compilation of translated stories published in Sakshi media. Jagan is only seeking to block the development of the state by hook or by crook. This malicious propaganda is also part of that effort," Anuradha said.
There was not an iota of evidence on any of the allegations made in the booklet, she said.
"Why should we order a CBI inquiry when the allegations itself are totally baseless? We will not order a CBI probe," Anuradha asserted, when questioned about the YSRC's demand.
The YSRC has suffered heavy damage in Kurnool district, one of its bastions, as four out of its 11 MLAs have deserted it.
In Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's native Kadapa district, two MLAs walked out and another two each from East Godavari and Prakasam districts followed suit.
One MLA each from Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Krishna, SPS Nellore and Anantapuramu also crossed over to the TDP.
Meanwhile, TDP sources said that veteran Congress leader and former minister Gade Venkata Reddy from Guntur district and another former minister P Maheedhar Reddy from Prakasam district are likely to join the party soon.
