Andhra Cong rebel among 7 candidates

Seven candidates are in the fray for the six Rajya Sabha seats in the state, including a Congress rebel. Of the two Congress rebel candidates who filed nominations, one withdrew on the last day of withdrawing nominations Friday.

While member of Legislative Council K V V Satyanaryana Raju and MLA A Prabhakar Reddy had filed their nominations as rebels, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and APCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana convinced Raju to withdraw his nomination but Prabhakar Reddy refused. The Congress had renominated T Subbirami Reddy, K V P Ramachandra Rao and M A Khan. The TDP nominted T Sita Lakshmi and Garikapati Mohan while Telangana Rashtra Samiti nominated K Keshav Rao who defected from the Congress last year. Prabhakar Reddy is contesting as Independent, saying that he wants to fight for united Andhra Pradesh. The TRS, which has a strength of 17, has sought the support of MIM (seven MLAs) and CPI (four MLAs).