Contest inevitable for Telangana legislative council chairman

The election of chairman of Telangana legislative council will not be unanimous as the main opposition Congress party has fielded a candidate against the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi's Swami Goud.

Unlike the unanimous election of TRS nominee as the speaker of the assembly last month, contest has become inevitable for the post of presiding officer of the upper house.

Goud, who is the leader of TRS in the council, and Congress party's Farooq Hussain filed their nominations for the election to be held Wednesday.

TRS has 15 members in 35-member council and they include 11 defectors from Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and teachers' constituencies. The ruling party, however, is confident of bagging the post with the help of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has two members and the lone member of Progressive Democratic Front (PDF).

The Congress, which currently has 15 members, has sought disqualification of its five members who defected to TRS recently. The opposition party has also urged Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan to postpone the election till its disqualification petition is disposed of.

The Congress fielded its candidate to strengthen its case for disqualification of the members under Anti Defection Law. The party has issued a whip on all it members making it mandatory for them to vote for the party's official candidate.

The opposition party Monday submitted a memorandum to the governor seeking his intervention to put off the council session. Congress leader in the council D. Srinivas sought to know why the government is in a hurry to convene the session when their disqualification petition is yet to be disposed of.