Six MLC nominees from TRS elected unanimously

The newly elected TRS members of the Legislative Council (from left) Padi Koushik Reddy, P. Venkatarami Reddy, Banda Prakash, Kadiyam Srihari, Ravinder Rao and Gutha Sukender Reddy along with Minister for R&B Vemula Prashanth Reddy in Hyderabad on Monday (Source: By Arrangement)

As expected, all the six candidates nominated by the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) from the MLA quota were elected unanimously as no other candidates filed nomination papers.

Returning Officer and Joint Secretary of the State Legislature Upender Reddy has reported that the biennial election is uncontested and therefore, the candidates are declared elected, the Election Commission said in the release.

Of the 119 seats in the Assembly, the TRS has representation of over 100 in addition to support of MIM which has seven seats. The Congress and the BJP have therefore decided not to contest the election as the result would anyway be one-sided.

The Commission said no nomination had been withdrawn till the 3 p.m. deadline set for withdrawal of nominations on Monday. It was a foregone conclusion that the ruling TRS would retain the six vacant seats under the MLA quota in the biennial election given the majority it has in the Assembly.

Those who were elected were — Gutha Sukender Reddy, Kadiyam Srihari, Banda Prakash, Padi Koushik Reddy, T. Ravinder Rao and P. Venkatarami Reddy. Announcing their unanimous election Mr. Upender Reddy handed over the certificates to all of them on Monday evening.

Later speaking to reporters, all the newly elected MLCs thanked Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for providing them an opportunity to serve the people.

“Telangana is ahead of all other States in the country in development. We work for the development of Telangana under the leadership of Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao. The Chief Minister has been trying to do justice to all sections in society. The BJP government at Centre has been trying to create hurdles in the path of Telangana unable to digest the development taking place here. It was seven years since Narendra Modi led BJP came to power at Centre. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has fallen drastically during the BJP rule and it went to minus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Why has GDP fallen if Modi is a successful and capable leader?” asked the TRS MLCs.

Minister V. Prashanth Reddy was also present.