VIJAYAWADA: Hectic lobbying is on for the four Rajya Sabha seats from Andhra Pradesh that are going to fall vacant in June. Rajya Sabha members V Vijayasai Reddy, TG Venkatesh, YS Chowdary and Suresh Prabhu are set to retire on June 21.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is slated to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting to be held in Davos from May 22 to 26. Before his trip to Davos, he is likely to pick candidates for the four Rajya Sabha seats. The ruling YSRC is set to win all four seats.
The names of Vijayasai Reddy, Beeda Masthan Rao, senior advocate Niranjan Reddy, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani’s wife Dr Priti Adani, TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy, Killi Krupa Rani and actor Ali are making rounds among probable candidates for the four Rajya Sabha seats.
Vijayasai Reddy is most likely to make the cut. A close aide of Jagan told TNIE that Vijayasai Reddy may be renominated. However, since he has been given the responsibility of coordinating with the YSRC regional coordinators and district presidents for the forthcoming elections in 2024, he may be asked to focus on party affairs, sources said.
If he is not renominated to the Rajya Sabha, the seat may go to either Niranjan Reddy or Subba Reddy. Among the two, Subba Reddy has been recently reappointed as the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Chairman. He has a fifty-fifty chance of getting the Rajya Sabha seat, sources added.
The name of Dr Priti Adani is also doing rounds for getting nominated to the Rajya Sabha from AP. If a request comes from the Adani Group in this regard, Jagan is very likely to oblige it. Krupa Rani, a former Union minister in the UPA government, who joined the YSRC, may make the final cut as she is a BC hailing from North Coastal Andhra region.
Giving her competition from the same region is Gedela Srinubabu, who owns Omics International Pvt Ltd. He too is a BC. Jagan had promised to take care of him when he joined the YSRC in 2019 though he planned to go into the Jana Sena fold.
The name of Masthan Rao, a former TDP MLA from Kavali, who joined the YSRC in 2019, is also up for consideration for the Rajya Sabha seat. However, the businessman turned politician, who owns several aqua farms in Nellore region, has a fifty-fifty chance of getting the seat as there is already a Rajya Sabha member Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy from Nellore, besides Nellore MP Adala Prabhakar Reddy. Sources said the name of actor Ali, who belongs to minority community, is also under consideration for the Rajya Sabha seat.