Hyderabad/Amaravati, March 3 The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday issued notifications for biennial elections to five Legislative Council seats each in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Members of the Legislative Assembly in both Telugu states will elect the MLCs on March 20.
As per the schedule announced by the ECI, nominations can be filed till March 10 while scrutiny of nominations will be taken up on March 11. The deadline for withdrawal of nominations is March 13.
The 10 MLCs are retiring on March 29. In Telangana, the retiring MLCs are Mahmood Ali, Satyavathi Rathod and Seri Subash Reddy of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Mallesham Yegge, who defected to Congress from BRS last year and Mirza Riyazul Hassan Effendi of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
The ruling Congress party is likely to secure three seats while the remaining two may go to the main opposition BRS. It remains to be seen if Congress leaves a seat to AIMIM, which became a friendly party after Congress wrested power from BRS in November 2023.
The AIMIM has seven seats while Congress ally CPI has one seat and their support will be crucial for the ruling party.
The BRS, which has 28 MLAs, is likely to retain former minister Satyavathi Rathod and name a new face for the other seat.
The BJP has seven members in Telangana Assembly.
In Andhra Pradesh, Duvvarapu Rama Rao, Paruchuri Ashok Babu, B. Tirumala Naidu and Yanamala Rama Krishnudu of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are retiring on March 29. The seat of Janga Krishna Murthy has been vacant since May 15, 2024, after he was disqualified by the Council chairman following his rebellion against the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).
The TDP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Andhra Pradesh is likely to sweep the elections, given its huge majority in the 175-member Assembly. With 164 MLAs, the coalition is set to bag all five seats. The TDP may leave three seats for its partners - two seats for Jana Sena and one for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Among the prominent aspirants for MLC tickets from NDA is actor Nagendra Babu, brother of Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena President Pawan Kalyan.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has already announced that Naga Babu, as Nagendra Babu is popularly known, will be inducted into the Cabinet.
The TDP may nominate two leaders who withdrew from the Assembly election last year for the candidates of alliance partners. SVSN Varma, who withdrew from the Pithapuram constituency for Pawan Kalyan, is likely to be nominated to the Council as per the promise made by Chandrababu Naidu.
The TDP may also reward senior leader former minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, who withdrew from the Mylavaram constituency in favour of V. V. Krishna Prasad, who had defected to TDP from YSRCP.
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