SNCN ACHARYULU
With the unanimous victory of six Rajya Sabha candidates the RS elections ended without tension. In this Rajya Sabha election, the interesting points are the end of the TDP presence and the re-entry of the Congress in the Telugu states.
TDP representation in the Rajya Sabha began in 1984 and its representation ended in 2024. From Telangana, the entry of the Congress ended in 2020 and it re-started in 2024. In Andhra Pradesh, the YSR Congress created a record by winning all 11 Rajya Sabha MP posts.
The TDP was launched in 1982 and it came to power in 1983. In the 1984 Rajya Sabha elections the TDP won five Rajya Sabha seats for the first time. TDP stalwarts Parvathaneni Upendra, B. Satyanarayana Reddy, P. Radhakrishna, Prof. C. Lakshmanna and Y. Shashibhushan Rao were elected in 1984 and with this TDP representation started in the Rajya Sabha.
After the state’s bifurcation in 2014, the TDP came to power and in the 2019 Assembly elections, the TDP miserably failed to retain power. The YSR Congress came to power with a thumping majority winning 151 seats out of 175. After the TDP Rajya Sabha Members CM Ramesh, YS Chowdary and TG Venkatesh joined the BJP the lone TDP Rajya Sabha Member Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar also left the TDP.
In the history of the TDP Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar became its last Rajya Sabha Member. With his retirement, the TDP has lost representation in the Rajya Sabha. Four decades of TDP representation in the Rajya Sabha has come to an end. Whether the TDP can gain representation in the Rajya Sabha again depends on the coming Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls.
Meanwhile, after Andhra Pradesh’s bifurcation in the residuary state, the Congress has almost disappeared. In Telangana, after a decade it came to power.
The Congress entering the Rajya Sabha from Telangana began in 2024. The last Rajya Sabha Member from Telangana of the Congress was KVP Ramachandra Rao. He retired in 2020.
In fact, KVP belongs to Andhra Pradesh. After Andhra Pradesh bifurcation during the allotment of Rajya Sabha Members of the combined state, KVP was allotted to Telangana even though he belongs to AP.
