Adala withdraws from Rajya Sabha polls

Congress MLA Adala Prabhakar Reddy had withdrawn from the Rajya Sabha elections.

Adala took the decision to withdraw from the fray after meeting Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. The meeting was also attended by former minister JC Diwakar Reddy and MLA Sridhar Krishna Reddy. They reportedly told Adala that since he was contesting on Samaikhyandhra slogan, his defeat would send a wrong signal. The Chief Minister also advised him not to depend on the promise of support by the YSRCP MLAs.

After his withdrawal, elections to six Rajya Sabha seats from the State had become a formality. Now all six members in the fray - KVP Ramachandra Rao, T. Subburami Reddy and MA Khan from Congress, Garikipati Mohan Rao and Thota Seetarama Lakshmi from TDP and K Keshva Rao of TRS are likely to be elected unopposed. The voting for six Rajya Sabha seats will be held in the Assembly premises on Friday.

Announcing his decision, Adala said he was withdrawing from the contest as the YSRCP went back on its promise of supporting his candidature. He said he revolted against his party for the cause of united Andhra Pradesh. However, he could not gather enough support to stay in the contest.