Many TDP leaders are gearing up to throw their hat in the ring for the Rajya Sabha elections, confident of support from several Congress MLAs from Seemandhra.
The party with 80 MLAs could barely manage to send two candidates. This is because, at least half a dozen MLAs have parted ways and have already switched over to YSRCP, TRS and Congress respectively. Another MLA, Suman Rathod, has no voting right following a AP High Court verdict.
Though this would drastically bring down its effective strength, the party is expecting support from about 15 Congress MLAs from Seemandhra, many of them from erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party. Some of them have thrown enough hints of moving over to TDP. In fact if the number swells in the coming days, the party could even pitch for a third seat.
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Keeping this in view, several TD leaders from Seemandhra including former Ministers, Somireddy Chnadramohan Reddy, Ch. Ayanna Patrudu and Gorantla Butchaiah Choudhary are trying their luck. Others in the race from the region include, Khambampati Rammohan Rao, P. Anuradha and T. D. Janardhan Rao.
From Telangana region, senior Motkupalli Narasimhulu is believed to be keen on moving over to RS. Others from the region are Erabelli Dayakar Rao, MLA and convenor of the party’s Telangana Forum, Garikapati Mohan Rao, who missed the bus in the last round of RS elections and Arvind Kumar Goud.