Rajya Sabha Seat Sharing; TD Gets 3, Jana Sena 1

Vijayawada: The ruling alliance in Andhra Pradesh has finalised the allocation of four Rajya Sabha seats, with the Telugu Desam securing three seats and Jana Sena one. The four seats are falling vacant soon.

The decision was taken at a meeting held at the CM’s Camp Office in Amaravati on Thursday. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan, BJP state president P.V.N. Madhav, Minister Nadendla Manohar and TD state president Palla Srinivasa Rao attended the meeting.

The leaders reviewed the government’s performance during its first two years in office and discussed the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise and the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

The TD and Jana Sena are expected to announce their candidates shortly.

The vacancies arise following the completion of terms of Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy, Parimal Nathwani and Sana Satish. With the NDA enjoying a comfortable majority in the Assembly, all four seats are expected to be won by alliance nominees.

The alliance also finalised a statewide outreach programme to publicise the achievements of the central and state governments as part of campaigns marking two years of the NDA rule in Andhra Pradesh and 12 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government at the Centre.

Alliance leaders announced major public meetings in Tirupati on June 9, Amaravati on June 12 and Visakhapatnam on June 15. The Tirupati event will focus on welfare, Amaravati on governance and Visakhapatnam on development.

District-level programmes will be held between June 13 and June 20 to highlight welfare, governance and development initiatives undertaken by the Central and state governments. A detailed schedule is expected to be released shortly.

Palla Srinivasa Rao said the alliance had prepared an extensive public outreach plan to showcase the achievements of both governments. BJP state president Madhav said the campaign would highlight benefits delivered to various sections of society and outline a roadmap for governance over the next three years.

Minister Manohar said the campaign would focus on 24 major initiatives implemented during the state government’s first 24 months in office.