Rajya Sabha polls: Crucial for AP, insignificant for TS

Hyderabad: The upcoming Rajya Sabha polls are expected to throw up new 'political equations' in Andhra Pradesh, while they hold no significance in Telangana State. As many as four seats will fall vacant in AP, while there will be two vacancies in Telangana.

Interestingly, the ruling parties in both States will make a clean sweep considering that YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh and TRS in Telangana enjoy brute majority in their respective Legislative Assemblies. The Opposition parties have no scope to even field candidates.

Despite the foregone conclusion, the polls in AP are being keenly watched in political circles while no one is actually bothers about it in the neighbouring State.

This is because of speculations that YSRCP boss and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is likely to offer two seats to BJP as a 'goodwill gesture' and to maintain cordial relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. If that happens, this will throw up interesting political equations as YSRCP will be considered as an ally of the BJP-led NDA, in which event, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan will be left with no option but to snap ties with BJP.

Ironically Jana Sena and BJP joined hands only recently to work together in AP and TS against the respective ruling parties.

However, for TRS in Telangana, the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls hold no significance until and unless its chief K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) nominates Kalvakuntla Kavitha.

But this looks a distant possibility going by indications, which suggest that Kavitha is not keen on entering Parliament through the 'back door' after she was unseated from Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat by her BJP opponent. She prefers to wrest the seat to demonstrate that she is a 'mass leader' and not a 'nominated leader'.

Meanwhile, there is intense lobbying to secure berths in both YSRCP and TRS with multiple aspirants leaving no stone unturned to influence their respective party high commands.

Speculations are rife in YSRCP that industrialists Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy of Ramky group, considered to be a close aide of Mr Jagan and aqua industrialist Beeda Masthan Rao have secured assurance about berths. Ministers in Jagan's Cabinet Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao and Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose have pinned their hopes for the other berths.

Moreover both are nominated MLCs and are likely to lose out if the Centre approves the resolution to scrap Legislative Council in the State. As compensation, they are likely to be sent to the Upper House.

In Telangana, there is hectic lobbying by senior TRS leaders, especially those who lost the last Assembly polls. Prominent among them are former Speaker Madhusudhana Chary, former ministers Tummala Nageshwar Rao and Jupally Krishna Rao, who lost despite a massive TRS wave.

Besides, former Khammam Lok Sabha member Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, who won on YSRCP ticket in 2014 and subsequently joined TRS, failed to secure the ticket as KCR preferred Nama Nageshwar Rao, who defected from TDP. Ponguleti is seeking Rajya Sabha ticket for sacrificing his ticket.

Ponguleti is known to be a close-aide of Jagan. It is reliably learnt that he is trying to influence KCR through Jagan for the Rajya Sabha nomination. Since the two Chief Ministers enjoy good relations, Ponguleti is confident that KCR will oblige Jagan's recommendation.