Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the candidature of senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi as Congress candidate to contest the ensuing by-election to the Council of States from Telangana. Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said, the Congress nominated Abhishek Manu Singhvi as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha bypoll in Telangana.
“Congress President Malliarjun Kharge has approved the candidature of Abhishek Manu Singhvi as Congress candidate to contest the ensuing bye-elections to the Council of States from Telangana,” Venugopal stated in an AICC press release.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi posted on X and said, “My sincere gratitude to the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, to two former CPs, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, to Priyanka Gandhi and to all senior leadership for the trust and faith reposed in me.” Earlier in February this year, Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost the Rajya Sabha elections in Himachal Pradesh.
The by-poll for the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by K Keshava Rao will be held on September 3 and the notification was issued by the Election Commission on August 14. The seat in Telangana fell vacant after Keshava Rao, who was elected from the BRS, resigned from his post after joining the Congress recently though his tenure was expiring in March 2026.
BRS MP Keshava Rao tendered his resignation from RS membership on July 4. Keshava Rao is a former chief of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee. He joined the BRS, then the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in 2013 and has returned to Congress after over a decade.
Though several Congress leaders from Telangana opted to contest in this poll, the party high-command chose an out-sider. In the changed circumstances after the Supreme Court ruling on the categorisation of SC reservations, a section of the party sought an SC candidate. Moreover, senior leaders like K Jana Reddy and V Hanumanth Rao also aspired for the seat, arguing that this would be their last opportunity for a political position.