BRS to Pick Its Candidate for MLA Quota MLC Election Soon

Hyderabad: The BRS is expected to decide on its strategy and candidate, or candidates, for the upcoming MLA quota Legislative Council seats at a meeting likely to be held on Friday and chaired by party president K. Chandrashekar Rao.

The elections for the MLC seats, all to be elected by MLAs, are to be held on March 20, if necessary.

Though there are five vacancies that need to be filled, the BRS can ensure victory for just one of its candidates based on its strength in the Assembly. Though the BRS had won 38 of the 119 Assembly seats in the 2023 elections, 10 have joined the Congress, leaving the opposition party with enough MLAs to ensure victory for one candidate.

It is learnt that the party, which has been fighting for penalising the floor-crossing MLAs under anti-defection laws, is expected to issue a whip to all MLAs who on the BRS ticket to vote for the party. This is meant to put the defected MLAs in a tight spot as they are yet to be officially recognised in the Assembly as Congress MLAs.

The BRS is expected to pick its candidate from the SC, ST, BC, or from the minority communities. Many aspirants, including former MLAs, MLCs and former ministers, have been making their case to party working president K.T. Rama Rao and senior leader T. Harish Rao for the seat.