The announcement of prominent Backward Classes’ leader R Krishnaiah as the official candidate of YSR Congress party for the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections, has triggered a controversy.
Andhra Pradesh BC Welfare Association on Tuesday strongly opposed the nomination of R Krishnaiah to Rajya Sabha from AP.
“If YSRC president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy wants to give the Rajya Sabha seat to a BC, there are many eligible BC leaders in Andhra Pradesh and even in YSRC, there are many of them,” association leader Kranti Kumar said in a statement.
He said giving the RS seat to a Telangana leader was an insult to the BCs in Andhra Pradesh.
“We strongly condemn the decision,” Kumar said.
Krishnaiah, however, claimed that he had been fighting for the BCs all over India and not just Telangana.
“My fight is not confined to Telangana. I have taken up their cause at the national level. That is why Jagan Mohan Reddy gave me the RS ticket, acknowledging my services,” he said.
But one wonders whether the regional sentiments would apply to the Rajya Sabha nominations in any state.
For example, present Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu, though hails from Andhra Pradesh, had earlier represented Karnataka in Rajya Sabha.
Similarly, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu had given Rajya Sabha ticket to Nirmala Sitaraman between 2014 and 2016 and later to Suresh Prabhu, who are not from Andhra Pradesh.
So was the case with BJP leader G V L Narasimha Rao, who is from AP, but is representing Uttar Pradesh in Rajya Sabha.
In 2020, too, Jagan had given the Rajya Sabha ticket to Parimal Nathwani, who is from Gujarat on behalf of YSRC from Andhra Pradesh.
For that matter, even Niranjan Reddy, who got the Rajya Sabha nomination now along with Krishanaiah, is also said to be from Telangana, but he has close relations with Jagan and many other Andhra leaders.
So, there are many such examples of the leaders getting elected to Rajya Sabha from different states, instead of their native states. So, why make a fuss?
