The ruling YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh is gradually inching towards acquiring majority seats in the state legislative council, which may result in the party dropping its proposal to abolish the council once and for all.
On Monday, the YSRC expectedly won all the six seats in the council under MLAs’ quota without any opposition.
All its six candidates – Balli Kalyan Chakravarthy, Challa Bhagiratha Reddy, Mohammad Iqbal, Duvvada Srinivas, C Ramachandraiah and Kareemunnisa – were declared elected unopposed.
The TDP did not field any candidates, as it does not have enough number of MLAs to win even a single seat. It requires at least 24 first preferential votes to win one seat.
Of the six candidates, four candidates received their certificates of election, while C Ramachandraiah and Mohd Iqbal will take their certificates in a day or two, according to returning officer P V Subba Reddy.
With the latest numbers, the strength of the YSRC was doubled from nine to 18 in the 58-member legislative council.
The party already got four seats in the last one year – Dokka Manikya Varaprasada Rao, Pothula Sunitha, Pandula Ravindra Babu and Zakia Khanum.
The party leaders say by June 8, the party will get an absolute majority in the council when some more sitting members will complete their terms.
At least 10 vacancies likely to be available under the local bodies’ quota, and the YSRC party is expected to win all of them, besides getting three more seats under the governor’s quota.
Once the YSRC gets absolute majority in the Upper House, it will quietly withdraw its proposal pending before the Centre for abolition of the state legislative council since January 2020.