Ex-BRS MP quits Rajya Sabha, boosts Congress’ chances of 27 seats | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Keshav Rao’s resignation from Rajya Sabha as BRS MP and the expected victory of Congress on the vacancy in the by-election will bring the party’s count in the House of Lords to 27, giving the party more room to retain seats in the House of Lords. leader of the opposition‘s post to two seats and relieve a serious concern. Telangana has a big Congress majority and it will certainly win the seat.
After the debacle in the December 2023 state elections and the setbacks after 2014, the Congress’s tally in the upper house has fallen drastically. After the last round of Rajya Sabha elections, the Congress narrowly retained the post of Leader of the Opposition, held by party president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The party had a strength of 28 seats in the Rajya Sabha until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, while the main opposition party had 25 seats, accounting for 10% of the seats.
As the party struggled to maintain the required membership, two Rajya Sabha members – KC Venugopal and Deepender Hooda – won the parliamentary elections and resigned from the party. RS has reduced the number of seats in Congress to 26.
The biggest concern about this change was the implication for the key position that gives the Congress president a leading role in Parliament. A one-seat buffer looked very shaky. At the same time, the by-elections called for the seats vacated by Venugopal and Hooda will favour the BJP, which governs Rajasthan and Haryana.
It is at this point that Rao’s move to his former party will boost Congress’ confidence in the LoP’s position.
While Rao may return to the RS from Telangana for the remaining two-year term as Congress MP, his appointment in Hyderabad as an advisor to the state government on Sunday has led to rumours that he may be replaced by Abhishek Singhvi.
Rao, a political veteran, was the president of the Andhra Pradesh Congress and later became a senior leader of the Telangana Congress. He was also a CWC member in-charge of the state. However, Rao quit the Congress in 2013 and joined the then TRS.