Hyderabad: Congress central leadership on Wednesday is believed to have finalised the names of senior Supreme Court advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi and chief minister A Revanth Reddy's close confidant Vem Narender Reddy for the two Rajya Sabha seats from Telangana.
Both candidates will file their nominations on Thursday, the last date for submission. While Singhvi has been renominated from Telangana — marking his fifth term in the Upper House, including two from Rajasthan and one from West Bengal — Vem Narender Reddy is set to make his debut in Rajya Sabha. He is currently the govt adviser to the chief minister (public affairs).
Polling will be held on March 16 if the BRS forces a contest by fielding a candidate; otherwise, the election will be unanimous. If Congress secures both seats, its strength in the Rajya Sabha from Telangana will rise to four, while the BRS tally will reduce from four to three. Telangana elects seven members to the Rajya Sabha. The terms of KR Suresh Reddy (BRS) and Singhvi will end on April 9.
Going by the total strength of the state assembly, a candidate requires 41 votes to win a Rajya Sabha seat. With 67 MLAs, along with ally CPI, the Congress has the numbers to win one seat comfortably.
The BRS has 37 MLAs, of which 10 allegedly defected to the Congress. But eight of them denied doing so in the hearing conducted by the assembly speaker, with the hearing of two other MLAs still pending. The BJP has 8 and AIMIM 7 MLAs. No other party has the strength to win either seat.
The names were finalised after a teleconference involving AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Meenakshi Natarajan, CM Revanth Reddy and TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud. Though Revanth was in Delhi, most senior leaders were not in the national capital, leading to the decision being taken virtually.
More than 16 aspirants were in contention for the two seats, representing SC, ST, BC, minority and OC communities. The AICC, in consultation with the state leadership, gave preference to leaders who did not contest the 2023 assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In that context, Vem Narender Reddy's name emerged as the frontrunner, sources said.
There was unanimity on renominating Singhvi. The senior lawyer, accompanied by his wife, arrived in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Singhvi, 67, was elected unopposed from Telangana in a bypoll on Aug 27, 2024, following the resignation of former BRS member K Keshava Rao, who later joined the Congress and is now an adviser to the state govt.
Vem Narender Reddy began his political career with the Telugu Desam Party and won from Mahabubabad in 2004. He later contested unsuccessfully from Warangal West in the 2010 bypoll and as an MLC candidate in 2015.
He resigned from the TDP on Oct 28, 2017, and joined the Congress three days later along with Revanth in the presence of Rahul Gandhi in Delhi. He was appointed adviser to the CM on Jan 20, 2024, with minister of state rank.
Having 30 years of experience, Roushan Ali is covering the govt, ...
Read MoreHaving 30 years of experience, Roushan Ali is covering the govt, chief minister's office and politics as a senior assistant editor of The Times of India. During the three decades of journalism career he had initially covered important citizen-centric and infrastructure beats like urban development, water and electricity supply, traffic and transport, cantonment, education, welfare and rural development.
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