Telangana Rashtra Samithi likely to support NDA candidate

HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which has six members in the Rajya Sabha, is likely to support the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate in the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman elections. According to sources, TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is likely to take a decision on the RS deputy chairman elections either on Tuesday or Wednesday. The elections will be held on August 9. 

Chandrasekhar Rao could not attend any official programmes or could not discuss any issues with party leaders on Monday, on account of his sister’s death. “The CM may discuss with us on the RS polls either on Tuesday or Wednesday,” a party leader said. However, sources said that TRS was all likely to support the NDA candidate. With the recent biennial elections, the strength of the TRS increased to six. 

Though the BJP emerged as the single biggest party in the  Rajya Sabha, it lacked sufficient numbers to win the seat in RS. The BJP’s strength is 73 and the Congress has 50 members. Thus the BJP is expected to field JD(U) members as NDA candidate. In such case, the TRS will not directly vote for BJP and it will support a regional party candidate.The support of regional and smaller parties is essential for BJP to win the deputy chairman post in RS. The total votes required is 123 for winning the seat as against the total 245 seats in the Rajya Sabha.