Three months after the Congress Legislature Party in Telangana shrunk from 18 MLAs to six, Kissa Kursi ka played out in the state Assembly. The half a dozen Congress legislators had to make way for the AIMIM lawmakers who moved into the space at the far end of the House, traditionally allotted to the main opposition party in the House (pic above). Bhatti Vikramarka (in pic above), the CLP leader will no longer enjoy the status of the Leader of the Opposition.

But there is a catch. The MIM has only seven MLAs while to be recognised as the main opposition party, any party needs to have at least 10 per cent of the strength of the House, which is 12 MLAs in the 119-member Assembly.

After the Congress lost its 12 MLAs to the ruling TRS, MIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi had demanded the post of the Leader of the Opposition to his party’s legislature party leader and his younger brother, Akbaruddin Owaisi (seen in pic with KCR). The Speaker and the TRS government need to take a call on this.

But the larger question is how the opposition has shrunk in Telangana. The MIM is a friendly party of the TRS and Owaisi even campaigned in select constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections. This makes it a very comfortable situation for the TRS as its main opposition inside the Assembly is its political friend.

But this raises questions on how effective the opposition will be inside the Telangana assembly and ask tough questions of the treasury benches. Will the six Congress and a lone BJP MLA get enough time and space to make their presence felt? More so when the MIM representation is entirely from the old city of Hyderabad and the apprehension will be that it robs the opposition of a pan-Telangana outlook.