By IANS
Hyderabad : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy’s close friend K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao, Union Minister of State for Mines T. Subbirami Reddy and former chief minister N.T. Rama Rao’s son N. Harikrishna are among the six candidates from Andhra Pradesh elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha.
Nandi Yellaiah, T. Ratnabai and M. A. Khan were also elected to the upper house.
Their election was announced by legislative secretary Tuljanand Singh Wednesday at the end of the deadline for withdrawal of nominations. Singh also handed over to them certificates of their election.
While the ruling Congress party fielded five candidates, Harikrishna is the lone candidate from the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Subbirami Reddy and Yellaiah have been re-elected while others were elected to the upper house for the first time.
The terms of Subbirami Reddy, Nandi Yellaiah and four TDP members – A.Sudharshan, N.P. Durga, R. Chandrasekhara Reddy and Laljan Basha – are to end in April.
Only six candidates filed nominations for as many seats. Their papers were also found to be in order during the scrutiny.
Ramchandra Rao, who resigned as the state government’s advisor before filing the nomination, thanked the party leadership for giving him the opportunity to serve as a member of the upper house.
A close confidante of the chief minister, Ramchandra Rao has been playing a key role in the Congress government ever since the party came to power in 2004.
TDP’s strength in the state legislative assembly was enough for sending one member to the Rajya Sabha. TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu picked his brother-in-law and party founder N.T. Rama Rao’s son Harikrishna for the seat, ignoring several key contenders.
Harikrishna, who sided with Naidu when the latter revolted against NTR in 1995 and served as a minister in his government, later quit the TDP following differences with Naidu. But he retuned to the party fold in 2006.