Chiranjeevi, Renuka, Goud file RS nomination papers from AP

Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi, former Union Minister Renuka Choudary and former State Home Minister T Devender Goud today filed their nomination papers for Rajya Sabha along with three others from Andhra Pradesh.

As the deadline for filing of nominations for biennial elections to the six vacant seats ended at 3 pm, four nominees of Congress and two of Telugu Desam Party filed their papers, making it a unanimous affair.

The election of these six candidates is just a formality now and it will be officially announced after 3 pm on March 22 when the deadline for withdrawal of nomination ends.
Chiranjeevi has been 'rewarded' with a berth in the Upper House of Parliament as part of the deal over the merger of his Praja Rajyam Party with Congress in August last. He is also likely to be inducted into the Central Cabinet soon, as per the promise made by the Congress.

"This is a promotion for me and an added responsibility," Chiranjeevi exclaimed after filing his nomination. He would strive for victory of Congress in the 2014 elections, Chiranjeevi added and thanked the party leadership for his nomination to Rajya Sabha.

The actor-turned-politician will now vacate the Tirupati Assembly seat, from where he was elected in 2009. Renuka Choudary, who lost the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Khammam, is currently a spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee. She had previously served as a member of the Upper House as Telugu Desam Party candidate.

Former Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh T Devender Goud and industrialist C M Ramesh, who filed two sets of nomination each, are senior leaders of the TDP.

Goud quit TDP in 2008 to float his Nava Telangana Party demanding creation of a separate state and subsequently merged it with the Praja Rajyam Party. Following the drubbing he received in the 2009 elections, Goud returned to the TDP and has been fighting for the cause of Telangana state.

Despite stiff opposition within the party to their candidatures, Telugu Desam chief N Chandrababu Naidu went ahead with his choice and cleared Goud and Ramesh's names around midnight yesterday.

Chandrababu spoke to members of the TDP politburo individually late last night and prevailed upon them to accept his choice "in the larger interest of the party."
Ramesh is a backroom manager and a close aide of Chandrababu.

In the Congress, the nomination of former minister Palvai Govardhan Reddy, a staunch supporter of Telangana, itself came as a surprise. On top of it, the choice of journalist-turned-politician Rapolu Ananda Bhaskar left the partymen here in astonishment.

Initially, the name of B K Hariprasad from neighbouring Karnataka was tipped for the fourth RS seat from AP but caste calculations changed the scene in the eleventh hour and Bhaskar's name was formally announced. That he is a backward community leader from Telangana region proved lucky for Bhaskar.

Now, of the four seats it bagged, three have gone to candidates from Telangana while Chiranjeevi alone is from coastal Andhra.