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Senior Supreme Court advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s close aide Vem Narender Reddy have been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from the state.
Returning Officer Upender Reddy on Monday, March 9, declared them elected after the deadline to withdraw the nominations came to an end.
As only Singhvi and Narender Reddy had remained in the fray for two seats, they were elected unopposed.
An independent candidate named Sai had also filed his nomination, but his papers were rejected.
The Returning Officer handed over nomination papers to Singhvi and Narender Reddy.
Talking to media persons, Narender Reddy thanked Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Revanth Reddy and other leaders.
Singhvi has been elected to Rajya Sabha for another term from Telangana, while Narender Reddy will be making his debut as a member of the upper house of the Parliament.
Narender Reddy was the advisor to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. The party leadership picked him as the second candidate over several senior leaders.
The terms of sitting members Singhvi and KR Suresh Reddy are to end on April 9, necessitating elections. The elections were scheduled to be held on March 16.
Suresh Reddy is currently the BRS Parliamentary Party leader, while Singhvi was elected to the seat as Congress candidate in 2024, replacing K Keshava Rao, who resigned after joining the Congress.
As the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) lacked the numbers to contest the polls, both Singhvi and Narender Reddy have been elected unopposed.
The Congress has 66 MLAs in the 119-member Assembly, while its ally Communist Party of India (CPI) has one member. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which is considered a friendly party of Congress, has seven MLAs.
On paper, the BRS has 37 members, but 10 of them had switched loyalties to Congress in 2024. The BJP has eight MLAs.