VIJAYAWADA: As the Election Commission of India issued a notification for filling five MLC seats under the MLA quota on Monday, aspirants within the TDP and BJP are scrambling for a chance to get an opportunity.
With an absolute majority in the AP Legislative Assembly, the NDA is set to bag all five MLC seats. However, as Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu already announced the induction of Jana Sena general secretary K Nagababu, who is also the elder brother of JSP president and Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, into his Cabinet, he will be nominated as one of the MLCs.
According to sources, for the remaining four seats, TDP sources claimed that leaders from their party will be nominated for all four MLC posts as the BJP was already given a Rajya Sabha seat recently. However, the saffron party is likely to seek at least one seat. With March 10 set as the deadline for filing nominations, the air is expected to be cleared soon.
On the other hand, the list of aspirants for the MLC posts is growing day by day in the TDP. As several leaders were forced to sacrifice their MLA seats to alliance partners during the 2024 Assembly elections, they are vying for a spot as MLCs.
Pithapuram former MLA SVSN Varma, who lost his seat to Pawan Kalyan, was promised a spot in the AP Legislative Council and he is confident of getting the chance now.
Similarly, former minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, who also opted out of the race to contest the Assembly from Mylavaram constituency to give way for Vasantha Krishna Prasad, who joined the TDP from the YSRC before the elections, is also waiting for a chance.
With less than a week remaining for filing nominations, several other leaders are also testing their luck. Meanwhile, JSP chief and Deputy CM K Pawan Kalyan met the Chief Minister in the latter’s chambers at the Assembly on Monday and discussed filling up the MLC seats under the MLA quota.