Hyderabad: With Delhi Assembly elections out of the way, the Election Commission on Wednesday initiated the two-month-long process to fill up vacancies in the Legislative Council in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The EC announced elections for two Council seats from the teachers constituencies in AP and two vacancies in graduate constituencies in TS.
The EC did not make any announcement on the 21 vacant seats in Telangana and a little over 20 in AP from the local bodies constituencies, where confusion created by the AP Reorganisation Act reigns.
Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal said, “Yes, there is a problem in holding MLC polls from the local bodies quota due to the confusion in the Act. Clarity is necessary on holding polls to specific number of local body constituencies.”
He said the Union home ministry and the EC would clear the pitch after some time. “However, there is no problem in holding polls to other vacancies,” Mr Bhanwar Lal said.
This has come as a severe setback for aspirants, and has given an edge to the lobbying for Council seats from the MLAs quota, the announcement for which is expected later this month.
Chief Ministers K. Chandrasekhar Rao and N. Chandrababu Naidu face a major problem in picking candidates for MLC seats from the Assembly quota, given that elections from the local bodies quota is expected to be delayed.
Mr Rao cannot bring in any new face, particularly from the TRS, as it will be difficult to accommodate MLCs who joined the TRS from the TD and the Congress. Besides, Mr Rao will have to ensure the election of Tummala Nageswara Rao and Warangal MP Kadiam Srihari, who joined the Cabinet.
In fact, the number of “defector MLCs” outnumber the vacancies.
Officially, the TRS has six MLCs, and another 16 who defected from other parties. From the six seats in the Assembly quota, the TRS may get five or six with one going to the Opposition.
AP will have four vacancies from the Assembly quota, and scores of aspirants, especially from the Kamma and Reddy communities, trying their luck. The ruling TD-BJP combine can get three MLCs and the YSRC, one.
TD leaders Payyavula Kesav, Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu, Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, K. Pratibha Bharathi, Y.B. Rajendra Prasad, Nannapaneni Rajakumari, V.V. Chowdary, T.D. Janardhana Rao, Mallela Linga Reddy, Varla Ramaiah and R. Subramanyam are lobbying for the MLAs quota seats.
“If not immediately, there will be at least 26 vacancies in all quotas. Out of this, accommodating seven or eight candidates from among the Kammas may not be problem,” said Mr Rajendra Prasad, a former MLC.
Mr Linga Reddy, a former MLA, is not sure of winning the Kadapa local bodies polls as the majority is held by the YSRC. He will need a seat in the Assembly quota. There is no vacancy in the Nellore local bodies quota for former minister Chandramohan Reddy.
Mr Naidu also has to factor in the social equation. The TD has one MLA from among the STs, the rest are from the YSRC, and no Muslim MLA or MLC.
