Some see it as an opposition-mukt assembly in Telangana after two-thirds of Congress MLAs joined the ruling TRS ranks.

A few others argue the opposition may be woefully short on numbers but they can be as effective as they might be in case they had a decent strength.

The TRS had won 88 seats in the 119-member assembly in the December last elections which saw the Congress bagging 19, the AIMIM led by Hyderabad Lok Sabha member Asaduddin Owaisi seven, the TDP two and the BJP one.

An independent MLA, another who won on All India Forward Bloc ticket and a TDP lawmaker crossed over to the TRS thereafter.

And then began an exodus from the Congress early March culminating in its 12th MLA jumping the ship last week and the Speaker giving his nod for request of the dozen legislators to merge with the TRS legislature party.

This boosted to 103 the TRS tally in the House with an effective strength of 118 after the state Congress chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy resigned his seat following his victory in the Lok Sabha elections.

With the Congress strength slumping to just half-a-dozen MLAs, the AIMIM has made it known it would stake the claim for the Leader of Opposition status, being the largest grouping of seven legislators.

But is the AIMIM an opposition party in true sense?

TRS and AIMIM describe themselves as friendly parties and had an electoral understanding in both the assembly and the Lok Sabha elections.

"We have been saying from the beginning that we are not working for any opposition-mukt assembly", said TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samiti) spokesperson Abid Rasool Khan.

These MLAs deserted the Congress due to "lack of leadership, vision, good programmes", he claimed.

"We are not doing anything against democratic set-up, if they (the Congress) are disintegrating on their own, we can't go and build that party... That (overwhelming majority) will not make us an authoritarian government," he said.

Disagrees Prof. M Kodandaram, chief of Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS), which fought the December assembly elections in alliance with the Congress.

"This (defections) results in autocracy...domination of one single party, it goes against the interest of the people. People are unhappy. There is a very strong feeling against defections", Kodandaram claimed.

"Defections completely delegitimised Constitutional bodies, particularly the assembly which has lost its relevance in Telangana, and people feel if this is the way politics operates, there is no meaning in voting rights at all", he said.

All India Congress Committee In-charge of Telangana, R C Khuntia said there was no need for the ruling party to "purchase" MLAs from other parties when it has a comfortable majority.

"This is sadistic pleasure of Chief Minister...to function autocratically...to kill the democracy and to make the assembly without the opposition, he is purchasing MLAs of other parties, when it's not necessary", Khuntia said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)