11 independent MLAs join Congress

All independent MLAs in Andhra Pradesh, except one, including those who won on the Samajwadi Party and Janata Party symbols on Thursday joined the Congress Party, taking the strength of the party in the Assembly to 198.

A total of eleven legislators, all of them with Congress links, have been formally inducted in to the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) as associate members after AICC approval for the same.

Chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy announced the decision of the AICC in a briefly held CLP meeting on Thursday. With today's development, only one independent legislator, Kommu Laxminarayana retains his independent status.

He contested as a rebel candidate against the official TDP nominee after being denied a party ticket.

Out of the eleven, D K Aruna has contested on the Samajwadi Party symbol and Komireddy Ramulu and Sasidhar Reddy had contested on the Janata Party symbol after they were denied Congress party tickets in the recent elections.

According to Congress sources, these MLAs will be treated as associate members of the CLP though the above three members will continue to enjoy the privilege of representing separate parties in the state Assembly, by way of giving them opportunities to speak on par with other political parties.

Meanwhile, the CLP meeting has elected P Sambasivaraju, Ch Venkatrao, and Sambhani Chandrasekhar as deputy leaders. Konda Surekha, H Appaiah Dora, E Pratap Reddy and S Gangaram have been elected as CLP secretaries while M Gopalakrishana was elected as the treasurer.