Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday approved the candidature of senior Congress leader and Supreme Court lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi as the party’s candidate for the bye-election to Rajya Sabha from Telangana.
The seat had fallen vacant after veteran leader K Keshav Rao resigned his seat on 4 July soon after joining the Congress even though he had another two years before his term ended. Rao was made the advisor to the Telangana government.
The Congress has a majority in the state Assembly which will see Singhvi through smoothly after the Himachal debacle in February this year. Polling will be held on 3 September.
In February, as the official nominee of the Congress in Himachal Pradesh for Rajya Sabha Abhishek Manu Singhvi faced an embarrassing defeat when six of the party MLAs and three independents cross voted for the BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan and sparking off a crisis in the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s government in the state.
Meanwhile, the BRS has slammed the Congress for nominating Abhisekh Manu Singhvi from Telangana arguing that as an outsider he was not concerned with Telangana.
Singhvi was also criticised for his past statements on the struggle for Telangana statehood by BRS supporters soon after his nomination was announced. Elections for 12 Rajya Sabha seats including two bye polls in nine states will be held on 3 September. Results will be declared on the same day.