VIJAYAWADA : The ruling YSRC on Thursday announced ex-MP and former chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) YV Subba Reddy, MLA Golla Babu Rao and Meda Raghunadha Reddy as its candidates for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
While there was buzz around the nomination of Subba Reddy and Babu Rao for quite some time, inclusion of Raghunadha Reddy came as a surprise. The three nominees met YSRC president and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Three Rajya Sabha seats will fall vacant on April 2 as the tenure of Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar (TDP), Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy (YSRC) and CM Ramesh (BJP) will expire. Elections, if necessary, will be held on February 27 to fill these seats.
Although the YSRC can comfortably win the three seats, the TDP is likely to field a candidate as it is hopeful of getting support from MLAs who are unhappy with the ruling party’s exercise of appointing new in-charges to the Assembly constituencies. A few legislators, including Kolusu Pardhasaradhy, Kapu Ramachandra Reddy, Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, and others have expressed their resentment against the YSRC. While Ramakrishna Reddy has already jumped over to the Congress, the others are also planning to join switch parties.
YSRC rewards Payakaraopet MLA,Meda’s brother with RS seats
Besides YV Subba Reddy, the ruling YSRC had decided to nominate one leader each from the Backward Class (BC) and Scheduled Caste (SC) to the Upper House of the Parliament. The party narrowed down to Babu Rao, a former Group-I officer. He joined politics in 2009, influenced by former chief minister late YS Rajasekhara Reddy. He won as an MLA from Payakaraopet SC-reserved constituency in Anakapalli district and later extended support to Jagan when he floated the YSR Congress Party. He was among the legislators who had resigned from their posts to support Jagan. He successfully won the by-elections in 2012 as well as the Assembly polls from Payakaraopet in 2019. He was a frontrunner for a Cabinet berth, but was denied the same.
However, now the party has decided to elevate him to the Rajya Sabha. A close relative of Jagan, YV Subba Reddy has played a key role in the party affairs. He is from Prakasam district and had won the Ongole Lok Sabha seat in 2014. In 2019, the party denied him the MP seat and appointed him as the TTD chairman.
Meanwhile, Raghunadha Reddy is the brother of Rajampet MLA Meda Mallikarjuna Reddy. A businessman by profession,Mallikarjuna Reddy forayed into politics with the TDP and successfully contested the Rajampet in 2014. He switched over to YSRC and won from the segment again in the 2019 elections. As Mallikarjuna Reddy is likely to be replaced for the ensuing elections, the party decided to nominate his brother to the Rajya Sabha .