Overview

• Zakia Khanam, Deputy Chairperson of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council, resigned from her post and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) on May 14, 2025.
• She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a formal ceremony, where BJP state president Daggubati Purandeswari welcomed her into the party.
• Khanam, the first Muslim woman MLC and the first woman Deputy Chairperson of the Council, praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies and emphasized minority inclusion as a key reason for her move.
• Her resignation is the latest in a series of defections from YSRCP, with six MLCs leaving since the party’s significant electoral losses in May 2024.
• The YSRCP’s strength in the 57-member council has now decreased to 31 members, though it retains a majority despite growing internal dissent.