Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India on Sunday issued the schedule to hold biennial elections to fill six Legislative Council seats under the MLA quota. The TRS has the numbers in the Assembly to win all six MLC seats.
The notification comes just two days ahead of the result for the crucial Huzurabad bypoll result which is expected on Tuesday.
The Huzurabad result is expected to impact the selection of the TRS candidates for the MLC polls as TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has to do a balancing act.
TRS sources said if the TRS wins the Huzurabad bypoll, Chandrashekar Rao will have a free hand to select candidates for the MLC polls. If it loses, Rao will have to use the elections for damage control, especially to silence voices of dissent from seniors who have been expecting berths for a long.
Rao had promised a Council seat to M.C. Kotireddy from the Nagarjunasagar constituency during the bypoll in April. Prem Singh Rathore from Goshamahal constituency and several others who could not be accommodated in the Cabinet and could not be given tickets to contest elections are also in the line for Council seats.
The election will be held on November 29. These elections scheduled to be held in May, were postponed due to the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
The notification will be released November 9 from when nominations will be accepted. The last day for submission of nominations is November 16.
Scrutiny will be held on November 17, while the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is November 22. Polling if required will be held from 9 am to 4 pm on November 29, followed by counting of votes from 5 pm. The results will be announced on the same day. The elections will be held in strict adherence to Covid-19 protocol.
According to a release from the ECI, the term of six members of Legislative Council expired on June 3: Former chairman Gutha Sukhender Reddy, Deputy Chairman Neti Vidyasagar, Kadiyam Srihari, Akula Lalitha and Bodakunti Venkateshwarlu, all from the TRS.
