Deputy CM Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao, realtor Ayodhya Rami Reddy and Reliance Industries senior group president Parimal Nathwani, who were in the fray, were on Friday declared elected for four Rajya Sabha seats from Andhra Pradesh. With this, the YSRCP strength in the Rajya Sabha will rise to six from the present two.
Polling for the four Rajya Sabha seats ended with full attendance of the YSRCP MLAs. A total of 173 votes were polled. Only 17 votes were polled for TDP’s RS nominee Varla Ramaiah. With a strength of 151 in the 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly, the YSR Congress was comfortably placed to win all four right from the word go. However, the prospect of Varla Ramaiah winning the seat was ruled out as the TDP has 23 MLAs in the Assembly, at least three of them only on paper.
Of the 173 votes polled, four were deemed invalid. The votes of three MLAs including TDP ‘rebels’ Karnam Balaram (Prakasam), Maddalagiri (Guntur) and Vallabheneni Vamshi (Gannavaram) were deemed invalid. Karnam Balaram, Maddalagiri and Vallabheneni Vamshi, who turned up for voting at the end of polling, have deliberately made their votes invalid by not striking a tick mark on the TDP symbol. On the other hand, it is learnt Bhavani Naidu wrongly struck down the symbol thereby her vote was made invalid.
Further, Repalle TDP MLA Anagani Satyaprasad also abstained from voting citing coronavirus. Stating that he will remain a strong loyalist to the TDP, Anagani Satyaprasad wrote a letter to Chandrababu Naidu stating that he is under home-quarantine at his residence in the wake of Coronavirus. In the letter, Satyaprasad informed Naidu that he had recently met Jangaon TRS MLA Muthireddy Yadagiri Reddy who contracted the virus and is currently undergoing treatment. “I was advised to be under quarantine home for 14 days and will not be able to attend for voting,” he wrote to Naidu.
Interestingly, the TDP had appealed to the Election Commission to allow proxy voting on the behalf of Atchannaidu who was arrested and currently recovering from a second surgery in the Guntur Government Hospital. However, there was no response from the EC till the time of voting and proxy voting could not be done.
Subham