EC to Hold Polls to 2 Rajya Sabha Seats in Telangana in March
ECI Under Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said the last date of filing nominations is March 9
Hyderabad: The Election Commission (EC) of India on Wednesday released the schedule for the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha to fill two seats from Telangana that are set to fall vacant in April. The six-year terms of sitting members K.R. Suresh Reddy of the BRS and Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress will end on April 9, necessitating elections to the Upper House from the state.
According to the schedule, the notification for the elections will be issued on February 26. The last date for filing nominations is March 5, scrutiny of nominations will be taken up on March 6 and the final date for withdrawal of candidature is March 9. Polling, if required, will be held on March 16 between 9 am and 4 pm, with counting scheduled for 5 pm the same day.
With its comfortable majority in the Legislative Assembly, the ruling Congress is expected to bag both the seats. Official sources said that 41 votes are required to win each Rajya Sabha seat. The Congress currently has a strength of 66 MLAs in the Assembly, besides the support of one MLA from its alliance partner CPI. In contrast, the BRS has 37 MLAs, the BJP has 8 and the AIMIM has 7. Except the Congress, no other party has the required 41 votes to secure a seat on its own.
Sources in the Congress indicated that the party high command is likely to renominate Abhishek Manu Singhvi for another term. There are, however, several aspirants for the remaining seat. Senior leaders who could not secure MLA or MP tickets in the 2023 Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, as well as those who contested but failed to win, are said to be in the race for a Rajya Sabha berth.
Singhvi, a senior Congress leader and noted Supreme Court advocate, was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Telangana on August 27, 2024, in a bypoll. He secured only a 19-month tenure as he was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of former BRS MP K. Keshava Rao.
Keshava Rao had joined the Congress in July 2024 and subsequently resigned from his Rajya Sabha seat after completing nearly four years of his six-year term, leading to the by-election in August 2024. The Congress fielded Singhvi, who was elected unopposed as no other party had sufficient strength in the Assembly to win the seat.
Official sources said the Election Commission is expected to conduct separate elections for the two seats on the same day, requiring MLAs to cast their votes separately for each candidate. Polling will take place only if the BRS or any other party fields candidates; otherwise, the nominees will be declared elected unopposed.
In January 2024, when elections were held for three Rajya Sabha seats from Telangana, the Election Commission had decided to hold separate elections for three seats on the same day. At that time, 31 votes were required to win each seat.
While the Congress with a strength of 64 MLAs plus one CPI MLA had a strength to win two seats, the BRS with a strength of 39 MLAs had strength to win one seat easily. The Congress fielded two candidates and BRS fielded one candidate as per their strengths avoiding the need to conduct polling.
