Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Thursday, February 14, announced its decision to nominate Vaddiraju Ravichandra as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.
A decision was taken after discussing with party biggies and leaders by its chief K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR), the party said in a press release.
The BRS further said that Ravichandra would file his nomination on February 15, Friday, as per the directions of KCR.
Ravichandra’s background
Vaddiraju Ravichandra, commonly known as Gayatri Ravi, is the founder of the Gayatri Group, which is into the granite and mining business.
He also serves as the President of the Telangana Granite Quarry Owners Association.
Ravichandra also holds the honorary position of President for the Telangana Munnuru Kapu All Association JAC and the National Union of Backward Castes.
Formerly with the Congress, Ravichandra joined the BRS (then TRS) in 2019 after this loss in the 2018 Assembly elections as the grand old party’s candidate from Warangal East constituency.
He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha for the first time by the BRS in 2022.
Rajya Sabha elections
The Election Commission of India has announced that elections for 56 Rajya Sabha seats across 15 states will be held on February 27, 2024.
Telangana is one of the states where the elections will be held, with three seats up for grabs. The last date for filing nomination papers is February 15, 2024. Rajya Sabha members serve a six-year term and one-third of the members retire every two years to ensure continuity.
The upcoming elections for three vacant seats in the Rajya Sabha, previously held by BRS MPs J Santosh Kumar, Badugula Lingaiah Yadav, and Vaddiraju Ravichandra, are set to occur due to the expiration of their terms this year.
The Congress party, with 64 MLAs in the Assembly, is poised to contest for two of these seats, while the BRS, with 39 MLAs, has planned to contest for one seat based on their respective strengths in the state Assembly.
