RS polls today, just a formality

• Rebel Cong candidate retires

• Kiran asks him to move out

• 276 MLAs to vote • NOTA to prevail

• 15 disqualified members and 3 with court verdicts barred

Hyderabad: Elections to the six Rajya Sabha seats from the State slated to be held on Friday have become a mere formality as the rebel Congress candidate Adala Prabhakar Reddy has retired from the contest.

For the six seats, Congress has fielded three candidates- KVP Ramachandra Rao, T Subbirami Reddy and MA Khan, while Garikapati Mohan Rao and Thota Seetarama Lakshmi are the TDP nominees.TRS has fielded K Keshav Rao who has been assured of the surplus votes of the Congress

The Chief Minister, who returned from Delhi on Wednesday night after staging a dharna at Jantar Mantar opposing the T Bill, called Reddy to his camp office on Thursday morning and asked him to retire from the elections. Reddy was accompanied by senior Congress leader J C Diwakar Reddy and Nellore district MLA Sridhar Krishna Reddy.

Kiran, according to Prabhakar Reddy, told him that since the YSRCP was not participating in the elections; there was no chance for him to win the elections. If he lost in the polls, it would have negative impact on the Samaikyandhra movement. Earlier, Kiran had played a key role in ensuring that the other rebel candidate, KVV Satyanarayana Raju, withdraws from the race.

The election will have ‘none of the above’ option. NOTA option is being tried out for the first in the Rajya Sabha elections.

NOTA would appear in eighth place in the ballot paper being used for the election in the State, where seven candidates are in the fray. Speaking to the media persons, Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwarlal said that the Election Commission of India decided to use NOTA option for Rajya Sabha polls too. He said that the members, who are interested in it, can use the option.

The election will be held from 9 am to 4 pm and counting will be taken up at 5 pm. As many as 276 MLAs would take part in the election. A total of 15 members have been disqualified and another three members do not have voting right due to court verdicts. Bhanwarlal informed that Umesh Sinha was appointed by Commission as election observer for Rajya Sabha election. On showing their ballot paper after voting it to the party agent concerned, the MLAs can show the ballot paper to the party agent, he added. “But, the MLAs cannot spell to anybody on his or her voting,” he stated. When asked on violation of secrecy of voting, he reiterated that showing party ballot paper after voting to party agent would not come under violation of secrecy of voting. “The system came in to existence under rule 39 AA of Conduct of elections rules,” he explained.

Congress, TDP and TRS have decided to appoint poll agents in a bid to ensure victory of their respective candidates. He said that the Commission asked the DGP, Prasada Rao to transfer the superintendents of police, deputy superintendents, circle inspectors and sub-inspectors who had completed three year service in the same place before election notification was issued.