Politicians debate 6th RS candidate election

Hyderabad: The election of the six-th candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat is leading to hectic debates in political circles. This is because no political party has the necessary strength to win it.

Some Seemandhra Congress MLAs are planning to put up an independent candidate for the sixth seat, or to support the YSRC candidate if that party decides to field a candidate.

Given the present strength of party MLAs, the Congress may win three seats and the Telugu Desam two seats in the February 7 election for the six seats in Andhra Pradesh.

To win one Rajya Sabha seat the support of 40 MLAs is required. The TRS and YSRC don’t have the strength to win the sixth seat on their own. YSRC has 23 MLAs and requires the support of 13 others to win one Rajya Sabha seat.

On Thursday, some Seemandhra Congress MLAs discussed this issue. They asked a YSRC leader if he will contest with their support. They told him to get permission from his party chief, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Political parties are expecting large-scale cross voting in these Rajya Sabha elections. Seemandhra Congress MLAs who want to leave the party may not honour their party’s wishes.

The TRS and YSRC are both expecting support from Congress and TD MLAs who want to join their parties. These MLAs will vote for the candidates fielded by the TRS and YSRC if they are assured of a ticket from these parties in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

It’s the ruling Congress and main Opposition party, the TD, that are the most worried about cross-voting from their MLAs.

A Telangana Congress MLA said that if the high command intervenes, the TRS may support the Congress and these two parties together may win four Rajya Sabha seats. The MIM may also support the Congress.