Renuka, Chiranjeevi unlikely to retain their RS seats

Congress MPs Renuka Chowdhury and K. Chiranjeevi are likely to lose their Rajya Sabha seats during the biennial elections for three seats scheduled on 23 March, as the Congress does not have the required numbers to send them to the Upper House of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh again.

Congress does not have a single MLA from AP. Telugu Desam Party MP T. Devender Goud is the third retiring member. The TDP is likely to win two seats, whereas YSR Congress may claim one.

Renuka Chowdhury is keen to get re-elected to the RS from any other state, but the Congress does not seem to be comfortably placed in any other state either, sources close to Renuka told this newspaper. Chiranjeevi, who was made a member of the Rajya Sabha and also a Union minister in the UPA 2 government, is a leading Tollywood hero and a prominent face of numerically strong Kapu caste in Andhra Pradesh. Both Renuka and Chiranjeevi may be asked to contest the Lok Sabha elections next year. A minimum 45 votes (first preference) are needed for a candidate to win

an RS seat from AP and Telangana. Presently, YSR Congress has barely 45 MLAs and it has already named industrialist Vemreddy Prabhakar Reddy as its nominee. TDP president Chandrababu Naidu may announce the names next week. In Telangana, there are three vacancies for the Rajya Sabha. Congress will lose both seats and TDP one seat as the two parties have no strength in the state Assembly. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi can easily win the three seats as it has enough numbers.