Hectic lobbying for Cong RS seats begins

vijayawada: four congress heavyweights of the region have begun hectic lobbying to secure a ticket to contest the rajya sabha elections from the state. former union minister p upendra, former mps rayapati sambasiva rao, kavuri sambasiva rao and former state minister chanumolu venkata rao are vying with each other for a place in the upper house of parliament, congress sources told the times of india here on tuesday.upendra had been a rajya sabha member and was later elected to the lok sabha in 1996 and 1998 from vijayawada. kavuri sambasiva rao has also been a lok sabha member on two occasions from machilipatnam constituency while rayapati has been a member of both the houses of parliament. rayapati, the congress heavyweight from guntur, lost the 1999 election to a political novice y v rao from guntur lok sabha constituency. considered to be a close associate of the gandhi family, rayapati is said to be using his influence with aicc (all india congress committee) president sonia gandhi for securing a rajya sabha nomination as one of the two congress candidates set to be elected from the state. upendra, on the other hand, is camping in new delhi and has been meeting senior aicc leaders and congress central working committee members to push his case. however, pradesh congress committee (pcc) president m satyanarayana rao, who incidentally is said to be in the race too, is opposing upendra’s candidature in view of the serious differences between them, party sources pointed out. but upendra remains unperturbed by this as he is trying to use his own clout in new delhi. chanumolu venkata rao is silently pursuing his dreams with the help of some close friends in the party’s higher echelons, sources said. venkata rao does not belong to any particular group within the party and has a clean image. he is solely banking on the goodwill factor and hopes his candidature will get a push at least this time. he had tried his luck in the previous elections but had failed to secure a nomination. this time he is said to be sparing no efforts to realise his dream, sources pointed out.