TDP to contest three out of four RS seats

THe ruling Telugu Desam company in Andhra Pradesh testament contend trine come out of four Rajya Sabha seats, elections for which are scheduled to be held on June 18, while leaving the fourth seat to its alliance partner – Jana Sena Party.The decision was taken at a meeting of the leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Andhra Pradesh held at the camp office of TDP president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at Undavalli in Amaravati on Thursday evening.The meeting was attended by Jana Sena Party president and deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan, his party’s political affairs committee chairman and minister Nadendla Manohar, TDP state president Palla Srinivasa Rao and Bharatiya Janata Party state president P V N Madhav.The four vacancies have arisen due to the completion of the term of four sitting Rajya Sabha members – Parimal Nathwani, Pilli Subhash Chandrabose and Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy from YSR Congress party and Sana Satish Babu from the TDP.The notification for elections to these four seats will be issued on June 1 while the last date for filing nominations is June 8. Polling, if necessary, will be held on June 18.Since the TDP and its alliance partners account for 164 out of 175 assembly seats in the state, they are expected to win all the four seats unopposed. The YSRCP, which has just 11 MLAs, cannot field its candidate and will be losing all its three seats to the TDP-led alliance.Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Palla Srinivasa Rao said the NDA leadership had unanimously agreed on the Rajya Sabha seat-sharing formula under which the TDP would contest three of the four seats while Jana Sena would field one candidate. “The party shall announce the names of the three candidates shortly,” Rao said.Manohar said his party president Pawan Kalyan would finalise the candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat allotted to it as part of seat-sharing formula.State BJP president Madhav said the seat-sharing formula for the Rajya Sabha elections in AP was decided at the BJP central leadership in consultation with the chief minister in Delhi. “On the earlier occasions, the BJP got two Rajya Sabha seats from Andhra Pradesh. In any case, the election of TDP and Jana Sena MPs would also be viewed as representation for the BJP within the broader NDA framework,” he said.The meeting of the alliance partners also decided to launch an extensive public outreach programme to communicate the developmental and welfare initiatives implemented by the governments led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre and Naidu in Andhra Pradesh.As part of the campaign, the alliance will organise major public meetings in three key cities: Tirupati on June 9 focusing on welfare programmes, Amaravati on June 12 highlighting governance and administrative reforms and Visakhapatnam on June 15 showcasing development initiatives and infrastructure growth.“The campaign will subsequently be expanded to district-level programmes across the state from June 13 to June 20, covering the NDA government’s performance during the past two years,” Palla Srinivasa Rao said.Manohar said the campaign would focus on 24 major programmes and schemes implemented during the 24 months of governance. He added that Union Ministers would also participate in various public meetings and outreach events organised by NDA partners.Responding to political developments and criticism from opposition parties, Madhav asserted that the BJP, TDP and Jana Sena remained united and committed to working together.“We will remain together and continue to work as one,” he said, reiterating the NDA’s commitment to alliance unity ahead of upcoming political engagements.