Chiru, Renuka in Cong list for RS bypolls

Telugu actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi and Congress spokesperson Renuka Choudhary are among the 9 candidates announced by the Congress on Sunday for Rajya Sabha byelections. HT reports.

Telugu actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi and Congress spokesperson Renuka Choudhary are among the 9 candidates announced by the Congress on Sunday for Rajya Sabha byelections.

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Tirupati legislator and erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party president Chiranjeevi and Choudhary are candidates from Andhra Pradesh as also former state minister P Goverdhan Reddy. One candidate from Andhra Pradesh is yet to be announced.

Pradeep Balmuchu will contest from Jharkhand while RS deputy chairman KK Rehman Khan has been re-nominated from Karnataka, Praveen Rashtrapal from Gujarat and Shadilal Batra from Haryana.

The Congress has nominated former legislator Abdul Mannan from West Bengal much to the discomfort of the Trinamool Congress. Of the 5 vacant seats, the Trinamool is set to win 3 and the Left one.

The Trinamool had sought the Congress support on the fifth seat. But the Congress with 42 MLAs decided to contest the polls and is banking on the support of one independent and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha legislators.

Trinamool sources said the Left — with 10 surplus votes — might back Congress to cause friction between the allies.