Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Congress on Wednesday chose senior lawyer and former MP Abhishek Singhvi as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha bypolls from Telangana.
The seat became vacant last month after senior BRS leader K Keshava Rao defected to Congress and resigned from Rajya Sabha. Rao had his term till April 2026 and if elected, Singhvi will serve the remaining term of the former BRS leader.
With Congress having the support of 76 MLAs after defection from BRS, Singhvi is expected to win the polls comfortably. Rao was also accommodated as an advisor to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in Cabinet rank.
A Rajya Sabha MP between April 2006 and April 2024, Singhvi was fielded from Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh in the February polls but was defeated when six Congress MLAs along with three independents voted for the BJP candidate.
Singhvi had represented Rajasthan in his first two terms while in the third term, he was elected from West Bengal. He was fielded from Himachal by the leadership in the hope that he would sail through comfortably but the rebel MLAs accused him of being an “outsider” and sided with the BJP.
Sources said the leadership was keen that Singhvi return to the Upper House, especially after the Himachal debacle, and owing to his contributions to the party on the legal side. He has appeared for Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case among others.
Earlier, the 65-year-old lawyer was also inducted into the Congress Working Committee.
As a Parliamentarian, he was part of important Standing Committees like the Home Affairs, Commerce and Defence besides heading the panels on Home and Commerce. He was also a member of the Rajya Sabha Privileges Committee.
Singhvi tweeted after the announcement, "My sincere gratitude to the Congress President Kharge, to two former presidents, Sonia-ji and Rahul-ji, to Priyanka-ji and to all senior leadership for the trust and faith reposed in me."
The last date of nominations will be on August 21 while the bypolls to 12 seats in nine states, including one in Telangana, will be held on September 3.