Since its electoral journey started in 1983, nine months after its launching, for the first time Telugu Desam Party landed without any representation in the Rajya Sabha. With its lone member K Ravindra Kumar retired on Wednesday, the party losts its representation.
On the otherhand, the YSRCP has emerged as the third largest party in the Rajya Sabha, with three more members taking oath on Thursday. Presently its strength rose to 11. After BJP, Congress and TMC, now YSRCP is having the highest numbers in the upper house.
Unless some sitting Rajya Sabha members resigned due to obvious resigns and by-election took place, if TDP returns to power in the present elections, it may be difficult for the party to get representation till 2026, when three current members retire and new members are elected from the state.
Following the 2019 Assembly polls, which shifted the power balance towards the YSRCP in the state and the NDA at the Centre, four TDP members—YS Chowdary, CM Ramesh, TG Venkatesh, and Garikipati Mohan Rao—joined the BJP. Ofcourse, all of them have retired by now.
Moreover, from the beginning TDP faced issues with the loyalty of its Rajya Sabha members. Except three, no former Rajya Sabha member of the party remained in the TDP. While some of them are no more, few are keeping away from politics, all remaining are deserted from the party.
Though TDP has been a significant player in both state and central politics over decades, at some time emerged as the main instrument in bringing together all non- Congress parties and formation of non- Congress governments at the center, at present its representation in the Parliament is not encouraging one.
As democracy is a numbers game, TDP has to wait for its time. In the out-going Lok Sabha also it has only three members, of which one member is with YSRCP and contesting on behalf of that party and another member keeping away from electoral politics.
