Meanwhile, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan's visit to Delhi and his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set off a buzz that he was lobbying for help to get his brother Nagababu elected to Rajya Sabha.
Published Nov 30, 2024 | 10:54 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 30, 2024 | 10:54 AM
File photo of Rajya Sabha. (Screengrab)
Telugu Desam Party is all set to get back into the Rajya Sabha as the by-elections for three seats in the upper house, scheduled to be held on 20 December 2024, will go in favour of the TDP-led NDA in Andhra Pradesh.
For the first time in its 40 years of history, the TDP remained without a member in the upper house since April this year, after its lone member Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar retired.
It did not contest the Rajya Sabha elections held in February because it lacked the requisite numbers in the Assembly. The YSRCP had the brute majority of 151 seats in the 175-member Assembly.
Now the roles are reversed. The YSRCP is not in a position to win even one of the three seats that had fallen vacant following the resignation of as many YSRCP members – Mopidevei Venkataramana, R Krsihnaiah and Beeda Mastan Rao Yadav.
At present, the NDA has a brute majority in the Assembly. The TDP has 135 seats, Jana Sena has 21 seats and the BJP has 8 seats. It means that YSRCP with its impoverished strength of 11 members cannot hope to win even one seat and is most likely to give a go-by to the elections.
Now that there are three seats up for grabs, will the three parties in the NDA split them equally one each?
The speculation mill is working overtime that Jana Sena and BJP might demand their pound of flesh for going to the rescue of Chandrababu Naidu when odds were heavily stacked against him ahead of the recent Assembly elections.
Of the three YSRCP members who resigned from the Rajya Sabha—Mopidevi Venkataramana and Bida Mastan Rao Yadav joined the TDP after realising the futility in continuing in the YSRCP.
The third member R Krishnaiah, who actually belongs to Telangana, decided to return to Hyderabad and take up the Backward Classes issues.
Mopidevi was to retire from Rajay Sabha on 21 June, 2026, while Krishnaiah and Beeda Mastan Rao Yadav had time till 21 June, 2028.
Meanwhile, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan’s visit to Delhi and his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set off a buzz that he was lobbying for help to get his brother Nagababu elected to Rajya Sabha.
The BJP is also trying to get one berth, and it is not clear who the party might field in case Chandrababu Naiud cedes one seat to the saffron party.
If both Jana Sena and BJP get one seat each, Chandrababu Naidu might find it difficult to hand-pick one from the long list of hopefuls as he would be left with only one seat.
The party has already assured Mastan Rao that he would be sent to Rajya Sabha, and then there is another prominent leader on the list of hopefuls, former MP Galla Jayadev.
If the TDP gets to keep two seats, it may send both of them to Rajya Sabha, and open its tally in the upper house. For the TDP, it would be paradise regained after losing it to YSRCP briefly in the 2019 elections.
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
