Former PCC chief’s chances of getting reelected as MLC bleak
D. Srinivas
Hyderabad: The defection of a few Congress MLAs into the TRS will not only hurt the morale of the Congress but it will also affect the prospects of Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council D. Srinivas, who will try to retain his MLC post in February 2015.
Mr Srinivas’ tenure as MLC will come to end by March 2015. Though there will be seven vacancies from the MLAs’ quota, due to adjustments of MLC constituencies as per the AP Reorganisation Act, only six will be filled. As many as 21 MLAs’ support is needed for electing one MLC.
The main Opposition Congress, which had 21 MLAs in the general election, had already lost four MLAs to the TRS by Thursday. It is further being rumoured that two or three more Congress MLAs will switch sides soon.
Even assuming that the present strength of 17 will continue till the MLC biennial polls, generally conducted in February, Mr Srinivas, who will be the lone aspirant from the Congress, will be short of four votes.
There is no other party currently friendly towards the Congress that might come to its rescue. In such a case, the chances of Mr Srinivas appears to be bleak. Since it will be a secret ballot, a Whip cannot be issued to MLAs to vote for a particular candidate.
The TRS sources, meanwhile, indicated that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was bent upon bagging the majority of MLC posts this time owing to the joining of several Congress MLCs into the TRS whose tenure also comes to an end by March 2015.
It seems at the time of admitting them in the TRS, Mr Rao gave them an assurance that he would re-nominate all of them in the February 2015 biennial polls.
The other Opposition, the TD-BJP combine, will also face a tough task this time to send at least one MLC from their combined strength as few TD MLAs have also deserted to the TRS.
Meanwhile, the chances of Mr Srinivas trying his luck from the Nizamabad local body constituency is also bleak with majority of the voters (ZPTCs, MPTCs, municipal councillors of Nizamabad district) belonging to the TRS.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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