Telangana's ruling party, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), on Thursday announced incumbent K Keshava Rao and senior leader K R Suresh Reddy as its nominees in the biennial election to fill two vacancies in the Rajya Sabha from the state.
TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao finalised the candidatures of Keshava Rao and Suresh Reddy and they will submit their nominations on Friday. The TRS is sure to bag the two seats as it enjoys a massive strength of 101 in the 120-member Assembly.
Keshava Rao had been nominated to Andhra Pradesh as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 though he belongs to Telangana. His current term would also come to an end on April 9. He is considered to be a close aide of KCR.
Suresh Reddy on the other hand, served as Speaker of the Assembly in undivided Andhra Pradesh. He had quit Congress party to join TRS in 2018. It was widely speculated the KCR would choose his daughter and former Nizamabad Lok Sabha MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha. However, he chose Suresh instead.
Suresh had formally joined the TRS on September 12, 2018, with a personal invitation to the party by KCR. It was earlier speculated that he may be nominated to the Legislative Council, but he later became a contender for the Rajya Sabha nomination.
The four-time legislator last contested elections in 2014, losing as a Congress candidate in the Armoor constituency to TRS candidate, A Jeevan Reddy.
The renomination of Keshava Rao has come as a surprise to many, as the name of former Khammam MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy was initially reported to have been under active consideration by the Chief Minister. Ponguleti had quit the YSRCP in 2016 to join the TRS.
Both Keshava Rao and Suresh Reddy thanked KCR for the nomination. The CM congratulated both the party nominees.
The election to fill the two vacancies is necessitated as the term of KVP Ramachandra Rao (Congress) and Garikapati Mohan Rao (BJP) would come to an end on April 9.
(With IANS and PTI inputs)