JOIN USThe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to name Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as its candidate for the by-election to the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh, which is slated for July 3. The ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has decided to back her on the request of the BJP.
The by-election was caused due to the death of sitting MP N Janardhana Reddy of the Congress, whose term was originally supposed to end on June 21, 2016.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Rajnath Singh had spoken to TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, seeking his party’s support for Sitharaman, who is a resident of Hyderabad.
The TDP-BJP alliance has a comfortable majority of 108 members in the 175-member Assembly. BJP leaders say it will be a unanimous election as the lone Opposition party, YSR Congress, doesn’t have the strength to pose any challenge.