Rajya Sabha Polls: Two Congress, one BRS candidate to be elected unopposed from Telangana

HYDERABAD: With both the Congress and the BRS announcing their respective candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections on February 27, 2024, the elections from Telangana are set to be unopposed.

On Wednesday, the Congress named former Union Minister Renuka Chowdhury and former Telangana Youth Congress president M Anil Kumar Yadav as its candidates. This would be Renuka Chowdhury's fourth term and Anil Kumar Yadav's debut in the upper house.

With 64 MLAs, the Congress can elect two candidates for the the Rajya Sabha. By fielding two candidates, the party strategically avoids the need for an election, securing both seats unopposed. Each candidate requires 31 votes to win, which the Congress comfortably surpasses.

Also read: Congress fields Renuka Chowdhury, Anil Kumar Yadav as RS candidates from Telangana

Renuka Chowdhury, a seasoned politician with experience in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, returns to the upper house for the fourth time. This move effectively sidesteps potential internal conflicts within the party regarding the Khammam Lok Sabha ticket where there are many aspirants from the Congress.

Anil Kumar Yadav's nomination, however, comes as a surprise to many, bypassing several senior leaders. The son of former MP Anjan Kumar Yadav, Anil previously sought the Secunderabad Assembly seat but was denied. This nomination marks a significant boost to his political career.

Also Read: BRS renominates Vaddiraju Ravichandra as Rajya Sabha candidate

Meanwhile, the BRS, with 39 MLAs, is entitled to one seat. Following discussions with party leaders, BRS president and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) re-nominated Vaddiraju Ravichandra for a second term.

Ravichandra, an industrialist who earlier unsuccessfully contested an Assembly election on a Congress ticket, joined the BRS and entered the Rajya Sabha through a bypoll in 2022. His two-year term expiring, the BRS chose to grant him another opportunity.