Elections to the Rajya Sabha: Congress prepares for the fight in the House of Elders
On February 27, the annual elections for a maximum of 56 Rajya Sabha seats from 15 states are scheduled to take place. Nomination papers must be submitted by February 15th. In a jab at the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the party’s leaders lacked the courage to run for office and were instead seeking entry into Parliament via the Rajya Sabha.
As the Congress Party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra’ comes to an end and party MP Rahul Gandhi spends the next few days in Delhi for the upcoming Parliament Budget session, a probables meeting is planned. A lengthy line of leaders is vying for the ten seats that the established party is expected to win.
1. Bihar (1)
2. One Maharashtra
3. One Madhya Pradesh
4. The state of Rajasthan – 1.
5. One in Himachal Pradesh
6. Two in Telangana
7. Three in Karnataka
The Dark Horses and the Liutenants
A number of names are making the rounds: Arun Yadav, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, Pawan Khera, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken, chairman of the youth party BV Srinivas, and renowned attorney Abhishek Mani Singhvi.
Despite her strong desire to run for the Lok Sabha from Mahrajganj in Uttar Pradesh, Supriya Shrinate may be reassigned to the leadership of the House of Elders, who may prefer that she concentrate on her job as the Congress’s social media chief in an election that would be mostly contested online.
In Rajasthan, the Congress is leading with just 30 out of 64 MLAs needed to win. Rahul Gandhi’s close adviser and former MP, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, is ranked highest among those most likely to be deported from the desert state.
It is probable that the party would get one seat in each of Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana. There are many rumors that Sonia Gandhi, the party’s former president, may run for the Rajya Sabha, signaling the end of her tenure in the Lower House, where she was chosen four times from Rae Bareli. In the event of such a situation, a choice must be made on the political ramifications and how the party may maximize its advantage.
SURGE IN THE SOUTH
An internal poll conducted by the Congress indicated that Telangana and Karnataka will gain over thirty seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The party hopes to win two seats in Telangana. Given the state’s sentimental ties to the late former prime minister and her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi, the state’s authorities have suggested that CPP leader Sonia Gandhi be elected from Telangana. Both Vijayshanti and Subi Rama Reddy’s names are making the rounds, albeit Vijayshanti is most likely going to run in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress-ruled state of Karnataka, which is also in the south, may provide the party the most MPs this time around since the three open seats may be preferred by residents. With 135 MLAs for the party, a shift of one or two may lose Congress a seat and cause great humiliation. In order to guarantee that it sends three leaders to the Rajya Sabha, Congress is thus also focusing on independents. Syed Nasir Hussain, a Congress MP whose term is about to expire, is probably going to be sent back because of his strong relationship with party president Mallikarjun Kharge.
MAHARASHTRA WAR
In Maharashtra, where the Congress has 44 MLAs and needs to gain 42 to win one seat, the contest might be fierce. Zeeshan Siddique, a Congress MLA from Bandra (East), has the potential to upend the party’s plans given that his father Baba Siddique resigned on Thursday, February 8, amid rumors that he would join Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The Congress is almost to the finish line and is hopeful that, should the numbers not meet their needs, NCP chairman Sharad Pawar or Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray may step in to help them win.
LITMUS BIHAR TO LOYALTY TEST
Everybody in Bihar is watching the floor test, which is scheduled for Monday, February 12. The Congress wants to ruin Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s and Janata Dal (United) veteran’s comeback. The grand old party is in contact with around five JD(U) MLAs, according to sources who spoke with India Today, and the Congress is certain that its flock will remain intact.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Congress are doing all in their power to make sure that the JD(U)’s decision to join the BJP-led NDA is a complete fiasco. The Congress would almost certainly announce the name of the Bihar candidate for Rajya Sabha after the floor test, as the outcome of the exam would determine the outcome of the Rajya Sabha elections. The leader of the Bihar Congress, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, is a strong contender to represent Bihar in the House of Elders once again.
