Amaravati, June 5 (IANS) Jana Sena Party has announced Lingamaneni Ramesh as its candidate for Rajya Sabha elections.

Jana Sena President and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Friday approved the name of Ramesh as the party candidate.

He will file his nomination on Saturday, Jana Sena said in a statement.

Ramesh has been associated with Jana Sena and Pawan Kalyan since 2015.

According to the statement, Ramesh was attracted by Pawan Kalyan’s vision that the state can develop only with harmony among various social groups and proper social engineering.

The Jana Sena said that in the nominated posts it has given priority to those who, despite adverse results in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, adhered to the party ideology, stood by the party and Pawan Kalyan and acted with patience in the face of pressures and challenges.

Pawan Kalyan followed the same rule in deciding the candidate for Rajya Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, Ramesh thanked Pawan Kalyan for naming him as the party candidate.

He expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for their support to his candidature on behalf of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led alliance.

Ramesh said he believes that Pawan Kalyan has entrusted him not with a position but with a big responsibility.

He added that he would work in accordance with the people’s aspirations and for the development of the state.

“My goal will be to ensure that the voice of the common citizen is heard in the Rajya Sabha. I will uphold the trust that Pawan Kalyan garu has placed in me,” he said.

Jana Sena’s decision to field Ramesh came a day after an agreement was sealed among the alliance partners within the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Out of four Rajya Sabha seats, elections for which are scheduled on June 18, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will contest three, leaving the fourth seat for Jana Sena.

The NDA is sure to win all four Rajya Sabha seats, going by its overwhelming majority in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.

In the 175-member state Assembly, the TDP holds 135 seats, while its allies, Jana Sena and BJP, have 21 and 8 seats respectively. The YSR Congress Party has only 11 seats.

The vacancies from Andhra Pradesh are arising as the term of four members is set to end on June 21.

The members who are retiring are Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy, Nathwani Parimal, Pilli Subhaschandra Bose (all belonging to YSR Congress Party) and Sana Satish Babu of the TDP.

Businessman-turned-politician Satish Babu was one of the three candidates of the NDA who was elected unanimously in December 2024 to fill the vacancies caused by the resignation of Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao, B. Masthan Rao, and R. Krishnaiah, all belonging to the YSR Congress Party.

While Mopidevi and Masthan Rao joined the TDP, R. Krishnaiah announced his intention to focus on strengthening the backward class movement. This followed the landslide victory of the NDA in the May 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In the bye-elections, TDP had fielded Satish Babu and Masthan Rao while BJP fielded R. Krishnaiah. All the three were elected unopposed.

–IANS

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