Andhra Pradesh: Four NDA Rajya Sabha members sworn in, Jana Sena gets first seat
Four members elected unopposed from Andhra Pradesh were sworn in as members of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, June 25, 2026. Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan administered the oath, giving the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) all of the state's seats that fell vacant this month.
The newly sworn-in members include three from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) — Sana Satish Babu, Vijay Chintakayala, and Bhashyam Rama Krishna — and one from the Jana Sena Party (JSP), Lingamaneni Ramesh. The four were declared elected unopposed on June 11 after no other candidates filed nominations within the stipulated time.
The seats fell vacant following the retirement of YSR Congress Party members Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy, Parimal Nathwani, and Pilli Subhas Chandra Bose, as well as the end of Mr. Satish Babu's earlier term. For Mr. Satish Babu, this marks a second consecutive term.
Speaking after the ceremony, Mr. Satish Babu thanked TDP National President and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and IT and HRD Minister Nara Lokesh for reposing faith in him. In a social media post, Mr. Ramesh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, and Jana Sena Party president and Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan for the opportunity.
Details of the new members:
Sana Satish Babu (TDP): A native of Thammavaram, near Kakinada, he is an Electricity Board employee turned businessman who later expanded operations abroad. He serves as honorary secretary of the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) and oversaw upgrades to the ACA-VDCA stadium in Visakhapatnam before the 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup. He was renominated by TDP after his earlier short-term term ended.
Vijay Chintakayala (TDP): He is the TDP State General Secretary and a former president of its youth wing, Telugu Yuvatha. A native of Narsipatnam, he is the son of Chintakayala Ayyannapatrudu, Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. He holds a master's degree in political management from George Washington University and another in political governance from MIT School of Government, Pune.
Bhashyam Rama Krishna (TDP): An educationist who began as a mathematics teacher, he founded the Bhashyam Educational Institutions in 1993. As chairman of the Bhashyam group, he runs over 160 branches across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka, teaching about 1.6 lakh students. A native of Enikapadu in Palnadu district, he also runs the Bhashyam Peramma Charitable Trust.
Lingamaneni Ramesh (JSP): A Vijayawada-based industrialist and founder of the LEPL Group, he was chairman of Air Costa, a regional airline launched from Vijayawada in 2013. He has been close to the JSP and its president, Mr. Pawan Kalyan, since 2015 and helped coordinate the Jana Sena-TDP-BJP alliance in the 2024 elections. His election gives the Jana Sena its first Rajya Sabha seat since the party's founding in 2014.
