By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress Thursday named Minister of State for Environment Jairam Ramesh as one of the party’s four nominees from Andhra Pradesh for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also approved names of three others – N. Janaradhana Reddy, V. Hanumantha Rao, and J.D. Seelam – for the biennial Rajya Sabha election from the state, a party release said here.
The nomination puts an end to speculation whether the minister would be re-nominated to the upper house for taking on Home Minister P. Chidambaram on restrictions on granting visas to Chinese engineers.
Ramesh came under fire from the Congress high command and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month for calling the home ministry “alarmist and paranoid” towards China, a comment that prompted Chidambaram to write a strongly-worded note to the prime minister.
Ramesh made the remark while attending a global meet on climate change in Beijing.
Manmohan Singh had sought an explanation from the minister but asked him to stay on. The prime minister also advised him not to speak out against other ministries.
The party president also rejected demand by a section of Congress leaders from Andhra Pradesh that the leaders from outside the state should not be nominated. Ramesh belongs to neighbouring Karnataka.
Ramesh’s anti-Telangana stand had also angered Congress leaders from that region.