HYDERABAD: Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi officially filed his nomination on Monday as the party candidate for the Rajya Sabha bypoll from Telangana.
Singhvi was accompanied by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, his ministerial colleagues, and AICC in-charge of Telangana party affairs, Deepa Das Munsi, when he submitted his nomination papers at the state legislative assembly.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Telangana endorsed Singhvi’s candidacy for the bypoll on Sunday night. Chief Minister and state Congress president Revanth Reddy introduced Singhvi to Congress MLAs, MPs, and MLCs during a CLP meeting, emphasizing that Singhvi’s election would help address Telangana’s concerns in Parliament and the courts, especially in light of disputes with neighboring Andhra Pradesh following the 2014 bifurcation.
Singhvi expressed his honor at being nominated and highlighted his recent meeting with Congress leader K. Keshava Rao, whose resignation from the Upper House after leaving the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to join Congress prompted the bypoll.
Rao had anticipated a unanimous by-election outcome due to the Congress's majority in Telangana and stated that Singhvi would be introduced to the party MLAs. Currently, Congress holds 65 seats in the 119-member Telangana Legislative Assembly, with about 10 BRS MLAs having joined the ruling Congress since last year's assembly elections. The BRS has sought the disqualification of these MLAs.