December 2, 2004 (Hyderabad):

Hyderabad, Dec. 2: The race for seats has started again. This time, the hopefuls are eyeing the Legislative Council. With the Central Cabinet giving the green signal for the revival of AP Legislative Council, Congressmen are in an upbeat mood. They have already started pestering Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy and APCC president K Keshava Rao for berths.

The Chief Minister on Thursday formally broke the news about the Union Cabinet’s approval for the bill pertaining to the revival of AP Legislative Council. The revival of the council was an election promise of the Congress. The opposition had criticised the proposal, saying that it would be a drain on the exchequer. Keshava Rao, while talking to Deccan Chronicle, said priority would be given to loyal Congress leaders. “Let the Council be formed,” he said. “The party will certainly consider berths for those who had sacrificed tickets for TRS in the last Assembly elections. We will also give importance to intellectuals, experts and youth.”

Rao dismissed the criticism that the Council would be a rehabilitation centre. “It will not be a rehabilitation centre,” he said. “We will select the best.” The Legislative Council will have 90 seats — 31 elected by MLAs, 31 by local bodies, eight each through graduates and teachers’ constituencies and 12 nominated by the government.

The names doing the rounds in party circles are Keshava Rao himself, P Goverdhan Reddy, A Vittal Reddy, D K Samarsimha Reddy, adviser to the Chief Minister K V P Ramachandra Rao, and K Bapiraju. The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council was formed on July 1, 1958, and was abolished by the NTR government on June 1, 1985. The Telugu Desam took the drastic decision to abolish the Council since it had meagre representation, but claimed that it was done to avoid “wasteful expenditure”. Sources said the Council would cost the exchequer Rs 4 crore per annum.