E-Paper
J’khand: Election for two RS seats on June 18, numbers favour INDIA bloc
The Election Commission announced Rajya Sabha polls for 24 seats, including 2 from Jharkhand on June 18, favoring the INDIA bloc to win both.
The Election Commission on Friday announced polls for 24 Rajya Sabha seats, including two from Jharkhand on June 18, following the retirement of incumbents such as former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Digvijay Singh among others.
Vacancies for two seats in the Parliament’s upper house from Jharkhand are being created due to the retirement of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Deepak Prakash on June 21, in addition to the vacancy created by the demise of former Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren on August 4 last year.
Although both JMM and BJP are vacating one seat each, the number of legislators---who vote in Rajya Sabha elections---stacked in sixth Jharkhand assembly favours the INDIA bloc, which is positioned to win both seats.
In the 81-seat house, the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD government led by chief minister Hemant Soren has a strength of 56. The JMM is the lead partner with 34 members, followed by Congress (16) and the RJD (4). The numbers add up to 56 including the two members of the CPI (ML-L). This party contested the 2024 assembly polls as part of the INDIA bloc’s pre-poll alliance but chose to stay out and is supporting the government from outside.
The principal opposition BJP on the other hand has 21 members. Its three pre-poll allies---AJSU, JD(U) and LJP (R)---have one member each, bringing the NDA bloc’s total number in the house to 24.
“Going by the numbers, if a situation of voting arises, the winner would have to secure 28 first-preference votes. With a combined strength of 56, the INDIA bloc has a clear chance of winning both seats if the alliance remains intact. However, an election would be necessitated only if more than two people file nominations,” a senior Jharkhand assembly official said.
Reacting to the development, BJP spokesperson Ajay Sah said the BJP would certainly field its candidate for the seat.
“Since Rajya Sabha members play a crucial role in shaping national politics and policy decisions, the final candidate will be decided only after detailed discussions and consensus between the party’s national leadership and state leaders. There is still sufficient time for the process, and the party will announce its candidate at the appropriate time after due consultation.
The JMM said the numbers favoured the INDIA bloc. “It’s too early to say who the INDIA bloc candidates will be. However, the numbers clearly favour us to win both the seats,” JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said.
