BJP set to strengthen grip on Rajya Sabha with expected gains

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and BJP president Nitin Nabin are set to enter Rajya Sabha unopposed, while NCP-SP supremo and veteran politician Sharad Pawar will return to the Upper House once again after they filed their nomination papers on Thursday. The BJP is set to increase its tally in the Upper House, where it will have the maximum number of seats after this round of elections.

The leaders were among the 40 candidates who filed their papers on the last day of nomination for 37 seats that are falling vacant in 10 states, leading to a keen contest for one seat each in Bihar, Odisha and Haryana.

Among others who are set to return to the Upper House in this round of biennial elections include Union ministers Ram Nath Thakur and Ramdas Athawale, besides former deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha M Thambidurai of DMK and noted lawyer Abhishek Singhvi of the Congress.

While Kumar and Nabin filed their nomination in Patna in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Pawar’s papers were filed in Mumbai on his behalf by his daughter, Supriya Sule.

Seven seats are falling vacant in Maharashtra, six in Tamil Nadu, five each in Bihar and West Bengal, four in Odisha, three in Assam and two each in Haryana, Telangana and Chhattisgarh, besides one seat in Himachal Pradesh. The scrutiny of papers will take place on Friday, and the nominations can be withdrawn till March 9. If needed, polling will be held on March 16. In Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam, assembly elections are likely to be held in April.

Bihar will also witness a keen contest for one seat as sitting RJD MP Amarendra Dhari Singh, a businessman turned politician, has been renominated by the party, and he filed his papers accompanied by Tejashwi Yadav.

The RJD has 25 MLAs along with 10 others of the Mahagathbandhan, including Congress and Left, and hopes to make up for the deficit of six votes with the help of AIMIM and BSP.

RLM president Upendra Kushwaha, who seeks a second consecutive term, and BJP state general secretary Shivesh Kumar, a former MLA who hopes to make a debut in Parliament, also filed their papers.

Odisha too shall have a contest for one seat, as two candidates, each of the ruling BJP — state unit president Manmohan Samal and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar and opposition BJD’s Santrupt Misra and eminent urologist Dr Datteswar Hota, filed their nominations, while Dilip Ray filed as an independent with BJP’s support, sparking the possibility of cross-voting. Another keen contest is awaited for one seat in Haryana, which has seen cross-voting in the past, too. Though the Congress has 37 MLAs, to win one seat, the opposition party needs only 31 first preference votes.

Satish Nandal, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 assembly polls as a BJP nominee, filed as an independent, becoming the third entrant in the contest after BJP’s Sanjay Bhatia and Karamvir Singh Boudh of the Congress.

In Maharashtra, six candidates of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, including Union minister Athawale and BJP leader Vinod Tawde, and Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi nominee Sharad Pawar, are set to get elected unopposed. They filed their nominations on the last day.

Pawar, 85, was not present at Vidhan Bhawan owing to ill-health. His daughter Sule filed the papers on his behalf. Besides Athawale and Tawde, the BJP fielded Ramrao Wadkute and Maya Ivnate, a former mayor of Nagpur who comes from a tribal background.

The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena fielded party spokesperson Jyoti Waghmare amid speculation that former Lok Sabha member Rahul Shewale might be nominated. From the Nationalist Congress Party, former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s son Parth Pawar has filed his nomination.

In poll-bound West Bengal, ruling TMC and the opposition BJP filed nominations for five Rajya Sabha seats from West Bengal, setting the stage for a largely predetermined Upper House election. Four candidates of the TMC — “minister Babul Supriyo, former West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, senior Supreme Court advocate Menaka Guruswamy and actor Koel Mallick” submitted their nomination papers in the assembly. The BJP fielded former state unit president Rahul Sinha as the lone contender. With the TMC commanding an overwhelming majority in the 294-member Assembly, the party is comfortably placed to win four of the five seats.

In Assam, three aspirants from the ruling NDA — “BJP’s Jogen Mohan and Terash Gowala, along with UPPL’s Pramod Boro” filed their nominations and are likely to be elected unopposed.

In Telangana, Congress candidates Abhishek Singhvi and Vem Narender Reddy filed their nominations. They are likely to be elected unopposed. Singhvi has been renominated from Telangana after completing a term of one and a half years. In Tamil Nadu, AIADMK sitting MP M Thambidurai and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss filed their nomination papers for the biennial election. The PMK (Anbumani faction), which is part of the AIADMK-led alliance in the state, was allotted the seat by the AIADMK on March 4.

Ruling DMK candidates Tiruchi Siva and J Constantine Ravindran too filed their papers, besides Congress candidate M Christopher Tilak, and DMDK treasurer LK Sudeesh. DMK’s allies — the Congress and Premalatha Vijayakanth-led DMDK, which joined the DMK’s alliance recently, have been allotted a seat each by the Dravidian major.

While in Chhattisgarh, BJP’s Laxmi Verma and Congress candidate Phulo Devi Netam filed their nomination papers, both of whom will be elected unopposed.

In Himachal Pradesh, the Congress picked an unlikely candidate for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh — president of Kangra district Congress Anurag Sharma.