HyderabadWith the Election Commission of India on Friday announcing the schedule for elections to 24 Rajya Sabha seats from 10 states, including four from Andhra Pradesh, feverish lobbying has begun in the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and its alliance partners in the state – the Jana Sena Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), people familiar with the developments said.
The four vacancies have arisen due to the completion of the tenure of four Rajya Sabha members – Parimal Nathwani, Bili Subhash Chandrabose, YSR Congress Party’s (YSRCP) Ayodhya Rami Reddy and TDP’s Sana Satish Babu.
Notification of elections for these four seats will be issued on June 1, while the last date for submission of nominations is June 8. Voting, if necessary, will be held on June 18.
Since the FDP and its coalition partners represent 164 of the 175 seats in the state assembly, they are expected to win all four seats unopposed.
The YSRCP, which has only 11 parties, cannot field its candidate and is set to lose all three of its seats to the TDP-led alliance.
A senior TDP official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that of the four vacant seats, the TDP is likely to retain two and give one each to the BJP and Jana Sena.
“In all likelihood, the TDP leadership may nominate Sana Satish Babu for a second term in the Rajya Sabha. Satish Babu, the businessman-turned-politician, is a close associate of party working president and IT Minister Nara Lokesh. He was unanimously elected to the Senate in December 2024 to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of incumbent MP Venkataramana, who resigned from the YSRCP to join the TDP,” the party leader said.
According to him, there is intense pressure within the party to get the second Rajya Sabha seat.
“There are several contenders for the seat, including former finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, educationist Bhashyam Ramakrishna, former MP from Guntur and industrialist Jala Jayadev,” he said.
In the Jana Sena too, there is intense competition for the only Rajya Sabha seat that is likely to be offered as part of the alliance understanding.
For the first time, the Jana Sena will enter the Rajya Sabha.
“There was talk that Jana Sena chief and deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan has zeroed in on businessman Lingamaneni Ramesh, but the selection is opposed by the Kapu community. There is also a possibility of Pawan Kalyan’s brother Naga Babu being nominated for the seat,” the TDP leader quoted above said.
The BJP is likely to get its third MP from Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh.
In April last year, BJP’s Paka Venkata Satyanarayana was unanimously elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of YSRCP’s V Vijayasai Reddy.
The FDP official added: “The decision will be taken at the national level and the party leaders in the state agree on that.”
