The Congress suffered a major blow on Sunday as former Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao and T. Vijay Kumar and J. Jagannaikulu, MLAs, quit the party and joined the YSR Congress at an event in Srikakulam, in the presence of its president, Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.
Mr. Prasada Rao said he had faxed his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
In a related development, Mines and Geology Minister Galla Aruna Kumari attended a meeting addressed by TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu at Bangarupalem in Chittoor, triggering speculation that she and her industrialist-son Jay Galla may join the TDP.
