Hyderabad: With the opposition BRS staying out of the contest, the ruling Congress is set to bag both Rajya Sabha seats from Telangana. Party nominees Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Vem Narender Reddy, who filed their nominations on Thursday, are expected to be elected unopposed.
An independent candidate, Kante Sayanna, also filed nomination but his candidature is likely to be rejected during scrutiny on Friday as he does not have the required support of 10 MLAs as proposers. Telangana chief electoral officer C Sudharshan Reddy said: "We have received nominations of three candidates. Scrutiny will be done on Friday."
Both Singhvi and Vem Narender filed three sets of nomination papers each before the returning officer and the election officer. Chief minister A Revanth Reddy, cabinet ministers and TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud were present during the nomination process.
Two Rajya Sabha seats from Telangana will fall vacant on April 9 with Singhvi and KR Suresh Reddy completing their terms. While Congress chose to renominate Singhvi, it fielded Vem Narender, a close aide of the chief minister, for the second seat.
BRS leaders maintained the party stayed away from the contest due to inadequate numbers in the assembly.
The BRS currently has 28 MLAs, down from 37 after 10 legislators reportedly switched allegiance to Congress in 2024. Although Patancheru MLA Gudem Mahipal Reddy later returned to the party, the strength remains well short of the 40 MLAs required to win a Rajya Sabha seat.
A former BRS minister said, "We approached Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, but they refused to support us and told they will back Congress."
In the 119-member assembly, Congress currently has 66 MLAs, its ally CPI one, and AIMIM seven. The BJP has eight legislators.
Singhvi, a four-time Rajya Sabha MP, thanked the party leadership after filing papers. He said he was "fortunate to be in the Rajya Sabha for the second time from Telangana" and expressed gratitude to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and KC Venugopal for their trust.
Vem Narender's nomination is widely seen within Congress as a move that consolidates Revanth's influence over the state unit. Currently advisor on public affairs to the chief minister, he is a former TDP MLA from Mahabubabad, elected in 2004. He joined the Congress along with Revanth in 2017 ahead of the 2018 assembly polls.
His selection came amid intense lobbying for the second ticket, with aspirants such as V Hanumanth Rao and Madhu Yaskhi Goud throwing their hat in the poll ring. The decision has also triggered disappointment among leaders from the Backward Classes community who sought greater representation.
Sudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times...
Read MoreSudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times of India, Hyderabad. Following the trail of migration and drought across the rustic landscape of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Sudhakar reported extensively on government apathy, divisive politics, systemic gender discrimination, agrarian crisis and the will to survive great odds. His curiosity for peeking behind the curtain triumphed over the criminal agenda of many scamsters in the highest political and corporate circles, making way for breaking stories such as Panama Papers Scam, Telgi Stamp Paper Scam, and many others. His versatility in reporting extended to red corridors of left-wing extremism where the lives of security forces and the locals in Maoist-affected areas were key points of investigation. His knack for detail provided crucial evidence of involvement from overseas in terrorist bombings in Hyderabad.
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