Congress, TDP to release RS candidate lists

HYDERABAD: Suspense continues over selection of Congress candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections for which filing of nominations will  come to a close on Monday. According to sources, the AICC leadership may release the list of candidates for four seats the party will contest only on Sunday evening, ie after the polling in the by-elections for seven Assembly seats ends. The high command thinks that announcement of candidates before  Assembly polling may impact the party's prospects in all the seven Assembly constituencies, particularly in the Telangana region. Hence the suspense on Rajya Sabha candidates.  Apart from erstwhile PRP president K Chiranjeevi, the AICC leadership has not sent any signal to the aspirants on ticket for them.Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana met AICC president Sonia Gandhi and discussed selection of candidates. For their part, the aspirants have not stopped their lobbying with the party bosses in Delhi.The PCC chief told reporters that they had explained to the party leadership the situation in the state and made recommendations to the high command on the candidates and the high command would take the final decision. The Telugu Desam, which is expected to win two seats basing on its strength in the Assembly, will also finalise its candidates on Sunday at a Politburo meeting.