Congress Fields Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Vem Narender Reddy for Rajya Sabha from Telangana

Hyderabad, March 2026 : The Indian National Congress has finalised its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Telangana, nominating senior leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi for another term and selecting Vem Narender Reddy, a close aide of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, as the second candidate.

Both nominees are scheduled to file their nominations on Thursday, which is the final day for submitting papers for the election. Polling for the two Rajya Sabha seats from Telangana is scheduled to be held on March 16.

The elections have become necessary as the terms of the sitting members, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and K. R. Suresh Reddy, are set to expire on April 9. Suresh Reddy currently serves as the Parliamentary Party leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, while Singhvi had earlier been elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2024 as a Congress candidate after K. Keshava Rao vacated the seat upon joining the Congress.

The Congress high command’s decision to renominate Singhvi reflects the party’s confidence in his legal expertise and effective performance in Parliament. A prominent senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India, Singhvi is widely regarded as one of the party’s most articulate voices on legal and constitutional matters in the Upper House.

The selection of Vem Narender Reddy for the second seat came after intense lobbying from several senior leaders within the party. Among those who were considered strong contenders for the nomination were veteran Congress leader Shyam Mohan Anantula, former Rajya Sabha member V. Hanumantha Rao, Telangana State Planning Board Chairman G. Chinna Reddy, former Member of Parliament Madhu Yaskhi Goud, and Telangana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Commission Chairman M. Kodanda Reddy.

Following the announcement, Narender Reddy expressed his gratitude to the Congress leadership. In a message shared on social media, he thanked AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, AICC General Secretary K. C. Venugopal, Member of Parliament Priyanka Gandhi, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Congress in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President Mahesh Kumar Goud for their support and confidence in him.

Narender Reddy currently serves as Advisor (Public Affairs) to the Chief Minister. He was appointed to the post a few months after the Congress came to power in Telangana. His political journey began with the Telugu Desam Party, and he was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Mahabubabad in 2004 during the undivided Andhra Pradesh era.

He later contested the Hanumakonda by-election in 2012 and also sought election to the Legislative Council from the MLAs’ quota in 2015, though he was unsuccessful on both occasions. Narender Reddy joined the Congress along with Revanth Reddy ahead of the 2018 Telangana Assembly elections, and the two leaders have maintained a close political association since their days in the Telugu Desam Party.