Congress decides not to field fourth candidate, leaves field open for TSR nominee K. Kesava Rao.
Hyderabad: In a clever move, the Congress high command on Monday re-nominated its sitting members T. Subbarami Reddy, K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao and M.A. Khan for the Rajya Sabha polls. Tuesday is the last day for filing nominations.
The Congress has decided not to field a fourth candidate, and has left the field open for TSR nominee K. Kesava Rao.
The Congress, with 139 legislators, cannot ens-ure victory of the fourth candidate as each candidate requires the support of a minimum of 37 MLAs.
Ratna Bai, Yellaih not considered
In a way the Congress high command has opened a channel for a future tie-up with the TSR in the coming general elections by leaving the fourth seat for the Rajya Sabha uncontested.
Incidentally, Dr Kesava Rao was in the Congress till a few months back.
The party think tank decided to re-nominate Dr T. Subbarami Reddy owing to the presence of nearly 40 legislators from the Reddy community and also to scuttle the moves of some of MLAs of the same the community to contest as rebels.
Out of its five retiring members, the Congress could only return three. Two-time RS member and five-time Lok Sabha member Nandi Yellaiah and T. Ratna Bai were not considered again.
As far as re-nomination of Khan and Dr Ramachan-dra Rao is concerned, it was a foregone conclusion as both are first timers and politically useful for the party.
Khan is the only Congress MP from the Shia community in the country and that too from Telangana. Dr Rama-chandra Rao was the closest friend of former Chief Mini-ster late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and has great influence over the Congress in the state.
Re-nomination of Dr Rao is also being seen as a channel being left open for a possible tie-up with YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in the event of the Congress needing support from other parties in the post-poll scenario. He can be the mediator if the need arises due to his personal relation with Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Talking to this newspaper, Dr Reddy said, “I am thankful to Congress president Sonia Gandhi for having reposed confidence in me and re-nominating me to the Rajya Sabha; I will continue to serve the party and be loyal to the high command. Though I will be in the Rajya Sabha for another term, I will still concentrate on Visakhapatnam’s development and will continue to serve the people there.”
( Source : dc )
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