Trust vote: Will Jagan loyalists go against AP Govt?

The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh will be put to the floor test on Monday; the Speaker had admitted the opposition Telugu Desam Party's no-confidence motion last week. But there is no need for the government to lose sleep as the TDP and Jagan Mohan Reddy require the support of at least 45-50 MLAs to dethrone Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.

With the Congress certain to win the floor test, the entire exercise will now be limited to testing the real strength of Jagan among the ruling party legislators.

As many as 21 legislators, who met him Saturday, said they were ready to vote against the government and face by-elections if they were disqualified for violating party whip.

It remains to be seen whether they will vote against the government when push comes to shove.

Two other loyalists opposed Jagan's decision to vote against the government and walked out of Saturday's meeting.

As many as 26 Congress rebels had switched loyalties to Jagan in August but some of them have since returned to the party fold.