Hyderabad, April 10: Congress president Sonia Gandhi is yet to decide whether or not to field more “outsiders” in the Rajya Sabha elections from Andhra Pradesh. Six seats from the state are going to be vacated by June this year. The biennial poll schedule will be announced next month. Of
the six vacancies, five are from the Congress. But the ruling party may only be able to send four this time, and that too with the support of the Majlis and Praja Rajyam. Two seats will go to the Telugu Desam kitty.
The five retiring members, including one “outsider”, Union minister Jairam Ramesh, and other leaders from the Congress, are eagerly awaiting the decision of the Congress president in this regard.
Meanwhile, there is talk in New Delhi that Mr Rahul Gandhi is not keen on “outsiders” being sent to the Rajya Sabha from various states. He feels the Rajya Sabha should really represent the states. When contacted, Mr Ramesh said he did not know anything about his re-nomination. “It is all left to the Congress president, I will abide whatever she decides,” he said.
Union minister for law Veerappa Moily, in charge of party affairs in AP, also said no guidelines had been framed so far. “We will take a decision when the notification is issued, there is no hurry,” he said.
Sources said the Congress might not prefer to re-nominate those members who had already served two terms in the Upper House.
n Turn to Page 2
This means that former chief minister Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy and former state minister V. Hanumantha Rao are out. The retiring members, Mr J.D. Seelam and Mr Girish Sanghi, are confident of being re-nominated for a second term.
The terms of Union ministers Ambika Soni and Anand Sharma are also getting over and it is not known from where they would return to the Rajya Sabha.
Another factor which has made nominations to the Upper House from Andhra Pradesh more delicate and complex is the political instability prevailing in the state after the death of YSR . Numerically, the Congress may be in a comfortable position in the state Assembly, but “imposing” candidates from outside could be counter-productive, feared party insiders. Andhra Pradesh played a major role in bringing the Congress back to power at the Centre and in the state in the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections respectively.
Age Correspondent