Former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's daughter Surabhi Vani Devi on Sunday took oath as a member of the Telangana Legislative Council. Council pro-tem Chairman Bhoopal Reddy administered the oath to her at a simple ceremony held in his chamber. Vani Devi was elected to the upper house of the state legislature in March from Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad Graduates' constituency as the candidate of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). She had defeated her nearest rival N Ramchander Rao of the BJP by 36,580 votes.
She thanked Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for giving her an opportunity to serve the people. She said that while no post is required to serve the people, being a member of the Legislative Council will help in serving them effectively. She thanked all TRS leaders who worked for her victory. Vani Devi is an artist, educationist and social activist. Born in Vangara in Karimnagar district, she is the founder of Sri Venkateshwara Group of Institutions.
State ministers V Prashanth Reddy, Sabitha Indra Reddy, Mahmood Ali, T Srinivas Yadav, Rajya Sabha member K Keshava Rao and some MLAs and MLCs attended the oath taking.
The TRS had sprung a surprise by announcing former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao’s daughter as the ruling party’s candidate for the MLC elections held in March. The elections to the Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda-Warangal-Khammam graduate seats were held on March 14. The two seats fell vacant with the completion of the term of Ramachandra Rao of the BJP and P Rajeshwar Reddy of the TRS.
Graduates were voters in both the constituencies but the fact that they were spread over more than half of total Assembly segments had made the polls significant and they were contested like the general elections. More than 10.36 lakh graduates were voters in the two constituencies, spread over 21 out of 33 districts.
In the elections held on March 14, 59% of voters had cast their votes in the Hyderabad-Rangareddy-Mahabubnagar constituency while 64% polling was recorded in Nalgonda-Warangal-Khammam constituency. The counting, which was taken up on March 17, took four days.
The polls were significant as the verdict was expected to determine which way the wind is blowing before the 2023 Assembly polls. Considering this, Chief Minister and TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao had roped in all ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other elected representatives to ensure the victory of both the candidates.
Vani Devi's choice as TRS candidate had come under criticism from the opposition. BJP leaders had even alleged that Chandrasekhar Rao made her a scapegoat. They claimed that KCR's only aim was to defeat the BJP candidate Ramchander Rao by dividing the votes of Brahmins. KCR, who has been trying to claim the legacy of Narasimha Rao, justified fielding Vani Devi, who is an academician and a social activist. The result has come as a blow to BJP's efforts to project itself as the only viable alternative to the TRS in the run-up to the next polls. The party had aggressively tried to strengthen itself after its victory in Dubbaka and after bagging 48 seats in the 150-member GHMC.