The Election Commission of India has announced the schedule for the byelection to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Telangana. The election to the seat, caused by the resignation of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and influential Mudiraj community leader Banda Prakash in December 2021, will be held on May 30.
While the last date for filing of nominations is May 19, the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is May 23. The counting of votes will be undertaken on May 30.
Banda Prakash, who resigned after the ruling TRS suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hustings last October 30 in the high-stakes Huzurabad Assembly byelection, is now a member of the State Legislative Council. The TRS candidate in the Huzurabad byelection was defeated by TRS party turncoat Eatala Rajender, who had won on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket.
With the TRS commanding a massive majority in the State Legislative Assembly, its Rajya Sabha nominee is expected to romp home.
Interestingly, the name of actor turned social activist and politician Prakash Raj is doing the rounds as a possible nominee. Prakash Raj, who is from Karnataka and unsuccessfully contested the last Lok Sabha elections from the Bangalore Central constituency in neighbouring Karnataka, is a vocal critic of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP and shares a good rapport with Chandrashekar Rao. He also accompanied the TRS supremo during his talks in February with the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar in Mumbai.
Among the other names doing the rounds are those of Mohammed Saleem, Chairman, Telangana State Wakf; former Members of Parliament P. Srinivas Reddy and Seetaram Naik; ex-Minister M. Narasimhulu; and B. Vinod Kumar, Vice Chairman, Telangana State Planning Board and former Lok Sabha member.
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