Hyderabad: The TRS has started operation “clean sweep” to bag all the MLC posts that will go for polls by February.
According to sources Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had a lengthy meeting with Nalgonda Congress MLA Mr Komatireddy Venkata Reddy at his chambers in the Assembly to scuttle the chances of the Congress to win the MLC seat from Nalg-onda local bodies constituency.
Leader of Opposition K. Jana Reddy’s son, Mr Raghuveera Reddy, is reportedly eyeing the Congress nomination for the seat.
Meanwhile, the TRS is trying to lure Mr Komatireddy Venkata Reddy and his brother, former Bhongir MP, Mr Rajagopala Reddy, to shift their loyalties.
Mr Venkata Reddy has apparently put the condition that unless his brother Mr Rajagopala Reddy is assured a Rajya Sabha ticket from the TRS in the 2016 biennial polls, he will not support the party in the MLC polls.
The Congress has the most votes in the Nalgonda local body when compared to any other district in Telangana and the party thus has chances to win one MLC seat out of 12 from local body constituencies in the state, provided Mr Komatireddy extends his support.
However, sources said that no deal has been struck yet and negotiations will continue.
Mr Rao has reportedly entrusted the job of winning all the MLC seats to a group of TRS leaders including ministers T. Harish Rao, K.T. Rama Rao and Jagadeswara Reddy.
For the first time, a record number of 21 MLC seats, more than half the total seats, are going to be vacant thanks to the inadequate formation of the Council in the AP Reorganisation Act.
Though officially the TRS has only four MLCs in the Legislative Council, by admitting several members from other parties like the Congress and the TD, its actual strength is now 22.
However, the terms of majority of the members who have joined TRS will end by March and much depends on KCR renominating the “defectors” in the February polls.
