Given the lobbying by several top leaders, party leaders said there is heartburn and predicted that the rumblings may come out in the open in the coming days.
The Congress on Thursday announced candidates for Rajya Sabha elections. There were no major surprises, but some omissions were glaring and veterans like Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh and Bhupinder Singh Hooda had their way. Given the lobbying by several top leaders, party leaders said there is heartburn and predicted that the rumblings may come out in the open in the coming days.
The party has fielded Hooda’s son Deepender from Haryana, overlooking Congress communication department head Randeep Surjewala and state Congress president Kumari Selja, who is retiring from the Upper House.
Sources said the high command decided to play safe as it did not want a repeat of the fiasco during the 2016 Rajya Sabha election. In 2016, party candidate R K Anand lost after votes of 14 MLAs, almost all of them Hooda supporters, were mysteriously found invalid. This time, Hooda was opposed to giving a ticket to Selja or Surjewala. Sources said Hooda wanted the seat for himself and had plans to field his son from the vacancy arising out of his resignation as MLA. But the high command did not fully give in.
In Madhya Pradesh, the party renominated sitting MP Digvijaya Singh and fielded former BSP leader Phool Singh Baraiya for the second seat. All eyes will now be on the election in Madhya Pradesh, given the turmoil in state Congress and the rebellion by 22 MLAs after the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia. The BJP has fielded Scindia and Sumer Singh Solanki. There are three vacancies in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress and the BJP, given their strength in the Assembly, can ensure easy win for one candidate each and a contest is on cards on the third seat.
List has little for young leaders
Against the backdrop of Scindia’s exit, Congress’s candidate list for Rajya Sabha is an effort to balance power equations but does not inspire confidence among the younger lot. The list has only one youngster in Rajiv Satav as the nomination for Deepender Singh Hooda is seen as the result of arm-twisting by his father. The powerfuls have managed to get tickets for themselves or their loyalists. This could deepen the discontent in the party.
In Maharashtra, the Congress fielded former Youth Congress president and AICC in-charge of Gujarat Rajiv Satav. In the race for the ticket were AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik and former Rajya Sabha MPs Rajani Patil and Rajeev Shukla. In Gujarat, the Congress has fielded AICC incharge of Bihar Shaktisinh Gohil and former state party president Bharatsinh Solanki.
AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, considered close to Rahul Gandhi, has been fielded from Rajasthan. The other candidate is state Congress general secretary Neeraj Dangi, who is said to be close to Gehlot. “How can you send a person who has lost three assembly polls to Rajya Sabha… people reject him and we reward him,” a party leader said.
The surprising name is K T S Tulsi from Chhattisgarh. Tulsi, a former nominated member of Rajya Sabha, is the lawyer of Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra. The second candidate from Chhattisgarh is Phulo Devi Netam. In Jharkhand, the Congress sprang a surprise by fielding a candidate, Shahzada Anwar, although it does not have the numbers to get one elected. The party hopes to force a contest.