On Sunday, Congress officially revealed the names of its candidates for the upcoming biennial elections to the Legislative Council of Telangana.
“The party president, Mallikarjun Kharge, has sanctioned the proposal for the following individuals to serve as Congress candidates in the forthcoming biennial elections to the Legislative Council, to be elected by the MLAs,” stated the Indian National Congress while disclosing the names.
The party has nominated Addanki Dayakar, Kethavath Shankar Naik, and Vijayashanti.
The Election Commission has recently announced the biennial elections for five seats in the Legislative Councils of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, which will be elected by MLAs, with voting set for March 20.
The terms of five members from Telangana, elected by Members of the respective Legislative Assemblies (MLAs), will end on their retirement scheduled for March 29, 2025.
The members whose terms are concluding on March 29 include — Mohd. Mahmood Ali, Satyavathi Rathod, Seri Subash Reddy, Mallesham Yegge, and Mirza Riyazul Hassan Effendi.
In Andhra Pradesh, MLCs D Rama Rao, P Ashok Babu, B Tirumala Naidu, and Y Ramakrishnudu will also retire on March 29, while MLC J Krishna Murthy’s position has remained vacant since March 15, 2024.
In the meantime, Janasena leader K Nagendra Rao (Naga Babu), the elder brother of party chief and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, submitted his nomination for the upcoming MLC elections on Friday.
“Nagendra Rao Konidela of the Janasena Party filed a set of nomination papers on March 7,” as mentioned in an official press release from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer.
Naga Babu is currently the general secretary of Janasena, which is part of the ruling NDA coalition in Andhra Pradesh, alongside the TDP and BJP.
Earlier this month, independent candidate Sripal Reddy Pingili emerged victorious in the Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda Teachers’ MLC elections, receiving his winning certificate from the Election Returning Officer and Nalgonda Collector, Ila Tripathi.
A BJP candidate also won the MLC election for the Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar Graduates Constituency.