VIJAYAWADA : TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu held a meeting with leaders on Wednesday and reportedly informed them that the party has no intention to contest the Rajya Sabha elections that are scheduled to be held on February 27 to fill three vacant seats.
In such a scenario, the three candidates nominated by the YSRC—YV Subba Reddy, Meda Raghunatha Reddy and Golla Babu Rao—would be declared elected unopposed. The last day for filing nominations is Thursday. It may be pointed out that the tenure of three Rajya Sabha MPs CM Ramesh (BJP), Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar (TDP) and Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy (YSRC) is set to end in April.
While the TDP has a strength of just 22 MLAs in the Assembly following the resignation of Ganta Srinivasa Rao, it will require 44 votes to win the Rajya Sabha seat.
Earlier, there were reports that the yellow party might bank on the support of YSRC MLAs, who are unhappy with the ruling party for either dropping them or shifting them to other constituencies ahead of the Assembly elections.
However, sources said that Naidu felt that it would be better for the party to focus on the ensuing elections.
Naidu exhorts TDP men to be ready for polls
During the meeting at his Undavalli residence, Naidu reportedly advised the TDP leaders to get ready for the Assembly elections, which are less than two months away.
It has been learnt that the TDP chief also discussed about his ‘Raa Kadali Raa’ meetings and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh’s ‘Sankhavaram’ programme. He also reportedly acknowledged that several YSRC leaders approached the TDP, but not all will be taken in. On alliances and the seats that the party could potentially lose, Naidu said leaders who have worked towards strengthening the party will not be disappointed.
Yanamala Rama Krishnudu, Nimmala Rama Naidu, Anagani Satya Prasad, Gottipati Ravikumar and Kambhampati Rammohan Rao were among those who met Naidu.