Amaravati: The Telugu Desam Party on Sunday announced three candidates and left a seat each for its allies, the Jana Sena and the BJP, for the biennial elections to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council.
The TDP announced young leader and State Women Cooperative Finance Corporation Chairperson Kavali Grishma as one of the candidates. She is the daughter of senior TDP leader and former Speaker Pratibha Bharati.
TDP national Secretary Beeda Ravichandra Yadav and B.T. Naidu, both BC leaders, are the other candidates approved by TDP national President and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
The TDP has nominated BT Naidu for a second consecutive term. He is one of the five MLCs retiring on March 29.
Elections to five MLC seats from the MLAs’ quota are scheduled on March 20.
The vacancies arose due to the retirement of four MLCs of TDP and the disqualification of Janga Krishna Murthy by the Council Chairman last year following his rebellion against the YSR Congress Party.
Following pressure from the BJP leadership, Chandrababu Naidu agreed to leave one seat for the party. He earlier left one seat for his other alliance partner Jana Sena.
Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena President Pawan Kalyan’s brother Naga Babu has already filed the nomination for the MLC polls. Chandrababu Naidu has already announced that Naga Babu will be inducted into the Cabinet.
The TDP-led NDA, which has 164 MLAs in the 175-member Assembly, is set to sweep the polls. The TDP has 135 MLAs, the Jana Sena 21, and the BJP eight.
The YSR Congress Party has only 11 seats in the Assembly.
Due to several contenders in the TDP for the MLC seats, Chandrababu Naidu had to convince them to wait till 2027 when seven seats are going to fall vacant.
The notification for the MLC elections was issued on March 3. The last date for filing nominations is March 10. The scrutiny of nominations will be taken up on March 11. The deadline for withdrawal of nominations is March 13.
(IANS)
