First in 41 years, Telugu Desam to lose representation in Rajya Sabha

Vijayawada: For the first time in 41 years after winning power in 1983, the Telugu Desam Party would be facing a huge embarrassment. It would have no representation in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament.

The term of its only RS member, Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar, ends on April 2 but there is no chance of the TD winning the election to fill this post or the two other vacant posts. This is because TD has poor strength in the AP Assembly, whose MLAs elect RS members from the state.

The ruling YSR Congress will take the three Rajya Sabha seats that are falling vacant soon, by virtue of its numerical strength in the state assembly.

The total number of members in the Rajya Sabha should be less than 250. The present number is 245, of which 233 members are elected by the legislators of state assemblies. The remaining 12 are nominated by the President.

The number of Rajya Sabha members in the AP state quota is 11. Before the 2019 elections, YSRC had two members and TD nine in the Rajya Sabha. In the 2019 elections, YSRC won 151 assembly seats with 50 per cent votes, while TD got only 23 seats.

There are perceptions that Chandrababu engineered the defection of TD Rajya Sabha members Sujana Chaudhary, CM Ramesh, Garikapati Mohan Rao and TG Venkatesh to the BJP, to buy the central government’s protection to him in view of the many cases he’s fighting now.

The RS terms of Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy (YSRC), CM Ramesh (BJP) and Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar (TD) would end by April 2. The votes of 44 MLAs are required for election of a member to the Rajya Sabha.

Judging by the numerical strength of the YSRC in the assembly, these three seats are sure to be added to the YSRC party's account. With this, YSRC's strength in the Rajya Sabha will reach 11. That means all the seats in the state quota will go to the YSRC account and TD will cease to exist in the RS.

The elections for three RS seats in Andhra Pradesh will be held on Feb 27. The TD has a strength of 22 MLAs in the assembly, against a requirement of 44 votes to win a seat.

Despite this bleak scenario for the TD, it is hoping to get the support of some YSRC MLAs unhappy with the ruling party who were either not given ticket for the next polls or moved to other constituencies.

When four seats in the upper house of Parliament fell vacant in 2020, the TD nominated its politburo member Varla Ramaiah and issued a whip to four of its MLAs, who had switched their loyalties to the YSRC. The party is likely to nominate Varla Ramaiah again.

At present, the state assembly has a strength of 174. With the Speaker accepting the resignation of TD MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao, the TD’s count is down to 22.

The ruling YSRC has 151 members as well as the support of the lone Jana Sena Party (JSP) MLA. Sources in the TD said the party is likely to field its nominee for one of the Rajya Sabha seats and will work out “strategies” to ensure the candidate’s wins.