Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is likely to clear the names of the MLC candidates for the local bodies constituencies. While the notification was issued for the MLC elections on February 16, no nomination was filed so far.

The Election Commission had issued notification for the election of nine MLCs from the local bodies, three MLCs from the graduates constituencies and two MLCs from the teachers constituencies.

Jagan Mohan Reddy had named the candidates for the graduates and teachers constituencies. However, he is yet to name the candidates for the nine local bodies constituencies in a day or two, as the last date for the filing nominations is on February 23.

According to the sources, the chief minister had cleared the candidature of former TDP MLA Jayamangalam Venkata Ramana, who had joined the YSR Congress only on Thursday. It was on the promise of the MLC seat that the former MLA had quit the TDP and joined the ruling party.

Venkata Ramana is from the fishermen community and enjoys strong hold in the community in the Kolleru region of the undivided West Godavari and Krishna districts. His entry is likely to give an edge to the YSR Congress in the 2024 general election.

Jagan Mohan Reddy is also in favour of bringing some seniors from various districts into the Legislative Council this time as his party has clear victory in the local bodies elections. The party would also win all the seven MLC seats from the Assembly quota, though notification was not issued yet.

Jagan Mohan Reddy would have the difficulty only in the fight for the three graduates and two teachers’ seats.

Keeping all these factors into consideration, Jagan Mohan Reddy is taking time to clear the names as that would help him win more Assembly seats in the coming elections.