The June 10 Rajya Sabha elections have been taking interesting turns with each passing day particularly in high-stakes States like Rajasthan, Haryana and Maharashtra.
Amid reported ‘luring’ of independents MLAs and probable cross voting in States like Rajasthan, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot entered into an argument on social media with BJP-backed independent candidate and media baron Subash Chandra. Pilot dismissed as "laughable" Subhash Chandra's claim of Congress MLAs cross-voting for him during Friday's elections for the Upper House.
Congress received a shot in the arm on Tuesday when two MLAs of the Bharatiya Tribal Party announced to back the Congress after they met Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The ruling Congress in the State has shifted its MLAs to a hotel in Udaipur alleging that the BJP wants to poach its MLAs.
The BJP, too, has shifted most of its Rajasthan MLAs to a resort for a “training camp” even as the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) announced to support Subhash Chandra. RLP national convener and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal on Monday night announced to give support to Chandra. The RLP, a former ally of the NDA, has three MLAs in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly.
There are four Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan and in the 200-member Assembly, each candidate needs 41 votes to win. Congress has 108 MLAs and the BJP has 71 votes. BJP is in a position to win one seat and has 30 surplus votes. To win a second seat, it needs another 11. Congress is in a position to win two and for a third seat, needs 15 more votes. To guard its flock, the party has put up all its MLAs at a resort.
The elections to four seats of the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan will be held on June 10. The Congress has fielded Mukul Wasnik, Randeep Surjewala and Pramod Tiwari while the BJP has fielded former minister Ghanshyam Tiwari.
"Subhashji, this is not a TV series or entertainment. This is serious business," Pilot said, taking a dig at the Zee chairman, who even reached out to him.
Pilot spoke shortly after the media baron claimed that four Congress MLAs would back him and also appealed to Pilot to seize the chance to "take revenge or send a message" by voting for him. "He has been fooled by the BJP into contesting and he will be humiliated," Pilot stated.
Chandra said Pilot would not be able to become Chief Minister till 2028 if he missed the opportunity. Pilot said the Congress has enough to win a third Rajya Sabha, "more than what we require".
Further, ahead of the biennial elections for four Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka, Congress appealed to the 'secular MLAs' to cast their 'conscience votes' to their candidate Mansoor Ali Khan. Congress Karnataka unit chief D K Shivakumar said he and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah were making this appeal to everyone in the Karnataka Assembly.
Given their strength, the BJP with 120 MLAs and Congress with 70 members are sure to win two seats and one seat respectively. The tussle is to win the fourth RS seat. The JD(S) with 32 MLAs though lacks enough MLAs to win a RS seat, it has fielded its lone candidate Kupendra Reddy. The national parties too are eyeing to win one more seat, though the number of MLAs to cast their first preferential vote is less than the JD(S).
BJP has fielded Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Kannada film actor-turned-politician Jaggesh who are sure to win. It has also fielded Lahar Singh Siroya as its third candidate.
On the other hand, the Congress has fielded Jairam Ramesh, for whom the party has adequate numbers in the Assembly to send him to the Rajya Sabha. However, it has also fielded Mansoor Ali Khan as the second candidate. Hence, there is a tough competition between JD(S) candidate Kupendra Reddy, BJP's L S Siroya and Congress' M A Khan.