Published Jun 11, 2026 | 1:15 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 11, 2026 | 1:24 PM
CM Ramesh. Credit: x.com/CMRamesh_MP
Synopsis: Was an Andhra MP behind the TMC losing more than half of its parliamentary party? What could have fuelled the speculation and was a bigger prize being eyed?
There is an Andhra Pradesh hand in the implosion of the Trinamool Congress in Parliament. At least that is what CM Ramesh wants us to believe.
A report published by Eenadu, the largest-circulated daily in Andhra Pradesh, on Thursday insisted that the BJP MP from Andhra was the one who manoeuvred behind the scenes and lured more than a dozen TMC MPs towards the saffron camp.
The paper cited Ramesh’s presence when 15 TMC MPs met senior BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav at his residence in New Delhi as evidence. The MP from Andhra subsequently went to Kolkata for follow-up action, the report went on to state.
The question of why Ramesh, who represents Anakapalli in north coastal Andhra Pradesh, is seeking to take credit for an operation that would have been planned at the highest level in the BJP drew interesting responses.
Political watchers in Andhra Pradesh sarcastically dismissed the story as a plant intended to bolster Ramesh’s image in the eyes of the national leadership, ahead of the impending union cabinet expansion.
Most BJP leaders in the state also laughed it off. They highlighted that the way the party functions meant there was no place for such self-promotion attempts. In fact, it could end up being an own goal.
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Ramesh, who was with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for a long time, had shifted to the BJP in 2019 with a few other TDP MPs when current Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was out of power. This poses another significant challenge to his ministerial ambitions.
It is public knowledge that the TDP leadership is firmly against the BJP entertaining ‘turncoat’ MPs with any positions at the national level. The TDP itself hadn’t entertained any turncoats in the Andhra Pradesh cabinet when the NDA alliance came to power in the state in 2024.
Chandrababu Naidu adopted the same formula when it came to the estranged YSRCP MP, Vijaya Sai Reddy, who resigned from the Rajya Sabha eyeing renomination by the BJP. The Andhra Pradesh CM shot down the possibility.
The Union cabinet, going by current speculation, is expected to see a major reshuffle in the first week of July.
Ramesh is obviously hoping to be considered when this exercise is undertaken, but by current accounts is nowhere in the reckoning.
The BJP is currently represented from Andhra Pradesh by Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, the Narasapuram MP. Varma was made a minister, ignoring the claims of several seniors.
The TDP currently has two berths in the Union Cabinet through Union Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu and Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar.
There is no clarity on whether TDP can hope for a third berth in the expected reshuffle.
The Jana Sena of Pawan Kalyan, who South First had reported as being keen to emerge as the NDA’s southern face, is also eyeing a berth in the reshuffle.
