RAVATI, MAY 17 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh’s ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) on Tuesday announced four candi- dates for Rajya Sabha, surprisingly picking two of them from neighbouring Telangana. The party has re-nominated YSRCP Parliamentary Party leader V. Vijaysai Reddy for another term.
Backward classes leader R. Krishnaiah and Supreme Court lawyer S. Niranjan Reddy, both be- longing to Telangana and industrialist Beeda Mas- than Rao are the other candidates.
Elections for four Rajya Sabha seats from the state are scheduled on June 10. As YSRCP has 151 members in the 175-member Assembly. Education Minister Botsa Satyanarayana and government advisor on political affairs Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy announced the names of the candidates after Chief Minister and YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy cleared the names.
They said Jagan Mohan Reddy announced two candidates from back- ward classes (Krishnaiah and Masthan Rao) for Rajya Sabha, which once again demonstrates the importance the party has been giving to backward
classes. They said Jagan Mohan Reddy has announced the candidates without going into the question whether they are from Andhra Pradesh or Telangana. Vijaysai Reddy, a close aide of
Jagan Mohan Reddy, has been re-nominated for a second term. A chartered accountant by pro- fession, the 64-year-old leader hails from Nellore district.
He was unanimously elected to the Upper House of the Parliament in 2016. Vijay sai Reddy has been vocal in raising issues pertaining to Andhra Pradesh, including the Special Category Status and privatization of the Vizag Steel Plant, in the Rajya Sabha. Mas- than Rao is an industrial- ist and former MLA from Kavali in Nellore district.
