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Union Minister of State for Mines T Subbarami Reddy, Advisor on Public Affairs Dr K V P Ramachandra Rao and Telugu Desam Party founder N T Rama Rao's son Nandamuri Harikrishna are among the six candidates who filed their nominations on Saturday for Rajya Sabha biennial elections from Andhra Pradesh slated for March 26.
Subbarami Reddy and Dalit leader Nandi Yellaiah have been renominated by the ruling Congress, which also picked up three fresh candidates, AP chief minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy's close confidante Dr Ramachandra Rao, former AP Seva Dal president M A Khan and former tribal MLA Ms T Ratna Bai.
The chief minister, his cabinet colleagues, Congress MPs and legislators and APCC functionaries were present when the party candidates handed over their nomination papers to Legislature Secretary K Tuljanand Singh. TDP boss Chandrababu Naidu, other senior leaders and several film personalities accompanied Harikrishna when he came to file his nomination on Saturday afternoon. Ramachandra Rao quit his post of Advisor (Public Affairs) to AP government prior to his arrival at the Assembly premises.
All the six nominees are expected to be declared elected unopposed after the scrutiny of nominations and the deadline for withdrawals is over on March 19.
Though a large number of Congress leaders were aspiring for Rajya Sabha nominations, the party high command zeroed in on the nominees, keeping regional and caste factors in view. Nandi Yellaiah, a member of dominant Madiga sub-caste among SCs, and M A Khan from minority community, belong to backward Telangana region. Ratna Bai, Ramachandra Rao and Subbarami Reddy hail from Coastal Andhra.
Three of the Congress candidates belong to weaker sections (SC, ST and minorities) whereas the remaining two are from forward castes. Subbarami Reddy is from politically dominant Reddy caste and Ramachandra Rao hails from Velama caste. The Congress has not nominated any candidate from Other Backward Classes this time, since three members from this group were given tickets in the 2004 and 2006 biennial elections.
For Dr Ramachandra Rao, the Rajya Sabha nomination came his way after making persistent efforts four times over the last eight years. As Leader of the Opposition in AP Assembly, Dr Rajasekhar Reddy tried for a nomination for his confidante in the 2000 and 2002 biennial elections. After Congress assumed power, Dr Reddy again lobbied hard for party ticket for his friend in 2004 and 2006 but without success. At last, Dr Ramachandra Rao got the coveted nomination this time. But, he had to wait till the midnight of March 14 to get the nod from the high command.
With over 20-odd claimants for the lone Rajya Sabha seat that the Telugu Desam is entitled to win on the basis of its strength in the present State Assembly, which constitutes the electoral college for these polls to the Upper House of Parliament, the TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had a difficult choice to make. He settled the issue by nominating his brother-in-law Harikrishna, who is a former minister and Telugu Yuvatha leader.