Congress fields Abhishek Manu Singhvi for Rajya Sabha by-election from Telangana

Telangana: Speculations come to an end as Indian National Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has cleared the name of senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi to contest the by-election to the Rajya Sabha from Telangana.

Speculation was rife from early July that senior leader K Keshav Rao had vacated his seat for Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Singhvi’s earlier term as member of Rajya Sabha was from West Bengal. A senior lawyer by profession and a seasoned politician of the Congress party, Singhvi’s election from Telangana for the Rajya Sabha is expected to be smooth.

12 vacant seats in RS

Elections to 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats in nine states will be held on September 3, the Election Commission said. Ten Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant as the sitting members, including Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal and Jyotiraditya Scindia, were elected to the Lok Sabha.

Bypolls are also being held for two seats in Telangana and Odisha K Keshava Rao from Telangana resigned recently from the House after quitting the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to join the Congress, while Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Mamata Mohanta resigned from her Rajya Sabha seat and primary membership of the party.

Besides Goyal, Sonowal and Scindia, the other Rajya Sabha members who won the parliamentary polls and moved to the Lok Sabha are Kamakhya Prasad Tasa (BJP), Misha Bharti (RJD), Vivek Thakur (BJP), Deepender Singh Hooda (Congress), Udayanraje Bhosle (BJP), K C Venugopal (Congress) and Biplab Kumar Deb (BJP).

The notification for the Rajya Sabha elections was issued on August 14 and the last date for filing of poll papers is August 21, the commission said. The separate elections for each Rajya Sabha seat will be held on September 3 and the results will be announced the same day.