Hyderabad: The Telugu Desam Party in Telangana received a jolt as it lost another prominent leader to the ruling TRS party. Senior leader and ex-minister K.Vijayrama Rao formally joined the TRS on Sunday in the presence of K. Chandrasekhar Rao. KCR welcomed him and felicitated him with a shawl.

It is a known fact that the IT and Panchayati Raj minister had earlier visited him at home and invited Vijayarama Rao to join TRS party. This prompted Chandrababu to jump into action and try and pacify the ex-minister to stay with the TDP. Those efforts however did not seem to produce the desired results, as is revealed by Sunday's events.

Vijayarama Rao's entry into the TRS party is only the latest in the long line of politicians jumping fences in recent times. Prior to Vijayarama Rao, G. Sayanna from the Secunderabad cantonment constituency had left TDP to join the TRS. He was preceded by five other MLAs who left their own parties and joined the TRS.

Having been elected from Khairtabad constituency during the earlier TDP rule in the earstwhile Andhra Pradesh, K Vijayarama Rao was seen as a senior pillar in the TDP. This gain for the TRS party is definitely a big loss for the TDP in Telangana.