Not in RS race, turf open in Andhra: Adani

AMARAVATI: The race for Rajya Sabha seats in the biennial election in Andhra Pradesh, slated for June 10, took an interesting turn on Sunday with the Adani group debunking reports that either Gautam Adani or his wife Priti would be given a seat.

For several months, there has been speculation among political circles here that Priti Adani was most likely to be given one of the four Rajya Sabha seats on behalf of the ruling YSR Congress.

The Adani group has been executing various projects in the State and Gautam Adani had personal interaction with YSRC president and Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on a few recent occasions, triggering the speculation.

The group, however, issued a statement on Sunday saying such reports were “blatantly false.” “It is unfortunate to see vested interests dragging our name into such speculative media reports. Neither Gautam Adani or Priti Adani nor any member of the Adani family has interest in a political career or in joining any political group,” the statement said.

Interestingly, the Adani statement gave rise to fresh talk about a new prospective candidate - another industrialist Chalamalasetti Sunil, who joined the YSRC after unsuccessfully contesting the Kakinada Lok Sabha seat as TDP nominee in 2019.

Sunil’s Greenko Energy is executing an integrated renewable energy storage project in Kurnool district, touted to be the first-of-its-kind in the world. Incidentally, Jagan will be visiting the project on May 17.

Given the caste calculations, the choice may fall on Sunil, now that Adani is no longer in the race, YSRC sources noted. Rumour mills had the name of another big businessman from Telangana in circulation, as he is close to Jagan, but his name also did the rounds as a prospective candidate of BJP from another State.

If these two business bigwigs are not considered, there is a long list of aspirants within the YSRC for a Rajya Sabha seat.

With a strength of 151 MLAS of its own, and supported by four rebels of opposition TDP and Jana Sena, the YSRC will comfortably win all four Rajya Sabha seats that fall vacant in June, a gain of three.