BJP queers Rajya Sabha poll pitch, forces contest in UP, Gujarat, Maharashtra
DH file photo for representation.
The BJP on Monday queered the pitch for Rajya Sabha elections by fielding additional candidates in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, putting to test the attempts to forge an Opposition alliance.
There was high drama in Gujarat as Congress candidate Naranbhai Rathwa's nomination papers were not in order, prompting former minister Rajeev Shukla, who is retiring in April, to make an attempt to enter the fray.
Shukla is learnt to have got the approval from Congress President Rahul Gandhi to file his nomination papers from Gujarat. However, fate willed otherwise.
Shukla made a dash to the airport to board a flight for Gujarat only to learn that all flights to Ahmedabad were cancelled due to an emergency situation at the airport there. Rathwa, meanwhile, claimed that his papers were in order and rushed to submit his nomination papers just before the 3 pm deadline. The BJP fielded Kiritsinh Rana from Gujarat in its bid to force a contest in Gujarat.
In Uttar Pradesh, it could be a tight-rope walk for BSP's Bhimrao Ambedkar, who was hoping for a smooth sailing to the Rajya Sabha with support of the Samajwadi Party and Congress.
The BJP has fielded Ghaziabad-based businessman Anil Agarwal and two others in the March 23 elections. As many as 14 people have filed their nomination papers for the election to the 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Similarly, Vijaya Rahatkar, the chairperson of the Maharashtra Commission for Women, filed her nomination papers as the fourth BJP candidate, taking the total aspirants to seven against the six vacant Rajya Sabha seats in the state.
The Congress has fielded candidates in Kerala and Chhattisgarh where the LDF and the BJP respectively are sure of a victory. Congress leaders said its candidates were in the fray to keep its flock intact.
Bihar candidates
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad filed his nomination papers for Rajya Sabha polls as the sole BJP candidate. Former Union minister in the UPA-I Akhilesh Singh, who was earlier with the RJD but joined the Congress on the eve of 2009 Lok Sabha elections, submitted his nomination on the last day as the Congress nominee.
Contrary to media speculation about party secretary general K C Tyagi being made Rajya Sabha member, JD (U) president Nitish Kumar on Monday preferred his Man Friday - Mahendra Prasad alias King Mahendra - and Bihar JD (U) president Bashistha Narain Singh for the two RS seats.
The main Opposition RJD fielded Delhi University professor Manoj Jha, who is also the national spokesperson of the RJD. The sixth candidate is educationist Ashfaq Karim, also from the RJD, who runs a medical college in Katihar.
After scrutiny of papers on Tuesday, all the six candidates are likely to be declared elected unopposed.
Singhvi in West Bengal
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, to whom the ruling Trinamool Congress has extended support, filed his nomination from West Bengal.
His name was proposed by 40 MLAs - 20 each from the Congress and the TMC. Along with Singhvi, four TMC candidates and one CPM candidate too filed nominations for elections to the five RS seats in the state.