Hyderabad: All India Congress Committee President Mallikarjun Kharge has approved two names for the MLC bypolls in Telangana.
The Election Commission is set to conduct MLC bypolls for two MLA quota seats in the Telangana Legislative Council on January 29.
The Congress party has fielded Mahesh Kumar Goud and Venkat Narsing Rao for the by-elections to the Telangana Legislative Council. With the deadline for nomination submissions on January 18, political parties are in a race against time to select their candidates.
While Goud is the working president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), Venkat Balmoor is the Telangana NSUI president who contested and lost from Huzurabad, against Eatala Rajendar, in the bypoll held in October 2021.
Ahead of MLC bypolls in Telangana, there is a curiosity among the public about the responsibilities of MLCs.
There are currently five vacant seats in the Telangana Legislative Council, including two under the MLA quota, vacated after MLCs Kadiyam Srihari and Padi Kaushik Reddy were elected as MLAs in the recent assembly polls.
Ahead of bypolls, composition of Telangana Legislative Council
The Telangana Legislative Council, serving as the upper house of the state legislature, comprises 40 members.
Currently, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) dominates the house with 27 members. There are two members each from the Indian National Congress (INC) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
Additionally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) each have one member, while the other two members are independents.
| Party | Number of members |
| BRS | 27 |
| INC | 2 |
| AIMIM | 2 |
| BJP | 1 |
| TJS | 1 |
| Independent | 2 |
The upcoming MLC bypolls are likely to change the composition of the Telangana Legislative Council.
Duties of MLCs
Although Legislative Councils in Telangana and other states are considered upper houses, the Indian Constitution grants them limited powers.
MLCs serve a fixed six-year tenure compared to MLAs, whose tenure is five years or less in the event of Assembly dissolution.
Regarding duties, MLCs have fewer responsibilities and powers than MLAs, as evident in the legislative bill passage procedure.
