With four days left for the deadline to file nominations for elections to six seats of Legislative Council from Assembly constituency to expire, suspense continues over whether the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) will contest the fifth seat as it is assured of victory in four seats with a combined tally of 75 members in the Assembly.
Each contesting candidate has to poll at least 18 first preference votes to win.
Sources said TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is playing cards close to his chest either in selection of candidates or whether the party will contest the fifth seat.
But, the candidature of Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari and Roads and Buildings Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao is said to be a foregone conclusion as they have to be elected to the Upper House if they have to be continued in the Cabinet.
It is anybody’s guess for the third and fourth seats although several aspirants are pinning hopes on them. The Congress is almost assured of the sixth seat.
Mr. Rao has been avoiding interaction with the aspirants, including former Deputy Speaker K. Harishwar Reddy, who tried to meet him. However, quite a few of them whose term as MLCs from the MLAs quota expired recently, made claims that they enjoyed KCR’s blessings.
Defectors from the Congress such as K. Yadava Reddy and N. Rajalingam and B. Venkateswarlu from TDP are among those who are making a strong bid for re-nomination.
Sources also said Mr. Rao might not opt for defectors as all of them with the exception of Mr. Srihari joined TRS around elections last year. It would demoralise cadre that had been with the party for several years.
Alongside finalising candidates, Mr. Rao will set his eyes on whether the BJP-TDP alliance will stick to decide contesting the fifth seat. If the alliance fell through as both parties staked claim to contest, the TRS might step in to exploit the cracks.
Mr. Rao’s endeavour would be to see that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) whose strength in Assembly fell from 15 to 11 after defections did not gain.
