Telangana CM nominates Captain and D Srinivas for Rajya Sabha

Hyderabad: TRS president and TS Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday nominated government adviser D. Srinivas and former minister Capt. V. Laxmikantha Rao (retd) for the two Rajya Sabha seats from the state.

Mr Srinivas, the former Congress state president, had joined TRS last year and was made adviser for inter-state affairs with Cabinet rank. Capt. Rao (retd) was the TRS nominee in Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s Cabinet during 2014-15 and is a close relative of late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and the younger brother of former Congress MP, late Voditela Rajeswara Rao. Capt. Rao (retd) is a confidant of the Chief Minister who visits him whenever he is in Warangal.

With the announcement of the TRS’ two candidates, the Rajya Sabha biennial elections from TS – the first since the state’s formation — will be unanimous if the present strength of MLAs is taken into consideration.

Out of 119 legislators, the TRS has an official strength of 82 MLAs, besides the seven Congress MLAs who have joined the party. Presently the TRS’ only Rajya Sabha member is Dr K. Kesava Rao.

Sources said that the name of Divikonda Damodara Rao, a close relative as well as a key aide of the CM, was also under consideration but it was rejected to accommodate a BC leader.

Mr Rao has also announced the candidature of former Congress minister Md. Fareeduddin, who has joined the TRS, for the MLC seat that fell vacant due to the resignation of R&B minister Tummala Nageswara Rao.