AP: Six RS members likely to be elected unopposed

With the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party deciding to field only four and two candidates respectively in the biennial elections to the six Rajya Sabha seats from Andhra Pradesh, all the six nominees are likely to be elected unopposed.

Though the two parties are yet to officially announce their lists, the Congress was likely to repeat three of the five retiring members and the TDP is likely to field two new faces.

The likely candidature of former union minister Renuka Choudhary has come as a surprise to many in the state Congress, as she had lost in the Lok Sabha elections from Khammam, the constituency she represented twice in the past.

For the other three seats, the Congress is likely to repeat the candidatures of Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, backward class leader V Hanumantha Rao and scheduled caste leader J D Seelam for a second term.

The Congress had won five seats in the last elections on the basis of its enhanced strength in the state assembly in 2004. But this time, it has only 156 members in the assembly, and thus can retain only four seats.

To ensure a smooth sail, the Congress has entered into a tie-up with Praja Rajyam Party of actor Chiranjeevi that has 18 members in the state assembly.

At the same time, the Congress was also likely to get the backing of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's seven Members of Legislative Assembly.

The tie-up with the PRP was being seen an insurance against any possible trouble by the supporters of belligerent Member of Parliament Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.

Chiranjeevi, who met Sonia Gandhi last week in Delhi, has announced unconditional support to the Congress, thus opening doors for a long-term alliance with the Congress -- including the forthcoming local bodies elections.

Ramesh's choice has also come as a disappointment to some state leaders who had opposed his candidature on two grounds – because he is an outsider, from Karnataka, and because he is not known to have accomplished much in the state in the last six years.

But it was obvious that Ramesh retains the trust of party president Sonia Gandhi.

Veteran Congress leader and former Andhra chief minister N Janardhan Reddy is retiring from the Upper House and is now likely to be appointed as a governor.

Naidu favours industrialist to loyalists

The TDP has been confused over the choice of just two candidates for the Rajya Sabha. With 90 members in the state assembly, the two seats have many takers.

Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu has reportedly favoured prominent industrialist Y S Choudhary, chairman of Sujana Group of Industries. However, this has evoked protests from several other leaders, who said Choudhary's choice would be an insult to leaders who had served the party for a long time.

But Naidu has reportedly told them that Choudhary had extended a lot of help to the party in the last assembly elections.

Naidu will finalise the second name from volatile Telangana region. The choice this time has been restricted only to the backward classes.

However, to make things difficult for Naidu, many senior leaders, including those who lost the 2009 elections, have thrown their hats in the ring.

While June 5 was the last date for filing nomination, polling, if necessary, will be held on June 14.