The two seats fell vacant when Padi Kaushik Reddy and Kadiam Srihari resigned as MLCs on 9 December before being officially sworn in as MLAs.
Published Jan 04, 2024 | 7:54 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 04, 2024 | 7:56 PM
File photo of the Telangana Legislative Council. (Supplied)
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has sounded the poll bugle for the by-election for two MLCs seats under the MLA quota.
The two seats fell vacant after the MLCs Padi Kaushik Reddy and Kadiam Srihari — both belonging to the BRS — vacated them following their election to the Legislative Assembly last year.
Kaushik Reddy and Srihari resigned as MLCs on 9 December before they officially were sworn in as MLAs.
According to the schedule issued by the ECI, the notification for the election would be issued on 11 January and there would be polling on 29 January, if necessary.
Nominations will be accepted from 11 January till 18 January. Scrutiny will take place on 19 January and withdrawals will be allowed till 22 January.
The term of the MLCs to be elected to these two vacancies will be up to 30 November, 2027.
The composition of the Assembly changed vastly after the recent elections. The BRS, which was the ruling party in the second Telangana Assembly, is now in the Opposition in the third Assembly.
The Congress came to power with a tally of 64 seats, and the CPI, its ally, won one seat: Kothagudem.
The BRS had to be content with 39 seats, while the BJP’s strength went up to eight, and that of the AIMIM remained at seven.
The Congress, at the time of finalising its alliance with the CPI, promised one berth to it in the Legislative Council.
It is more than likely that the CPI will bring pressure on the Congress to leave one of the two vacant seats for its nominee.
The parties are yet to finalise their strategies for the election to the council under the MLA quota.
