E-Paper
After poll debacle, Congress faces uphill task of choosing Rajya Sabha candidates
In Kerala, one seat is set to fall vacant with the retirement of former defence minister AK Antony, while in Rajasthan, two seats would fall vacant, next month.
With the Congress’s prospects of sending its MPs to Rajya Sabha dwindling, particularly after its decimation in the recently-held assembly elections, the party leadership may find it difficult to select candidates to replace senior leaders set to retire from the Upper House this year.
According to a senior Congress leader, party chief Sonia Gandhi will take a call on selection of candidates.
In Kerala, one seat is set to fall vacant with the retirement of former defence minister AK Antony, while in Rajasthan, two seats would fall vacant, next month.
Intense jockeying has already begun in Kerala over the lone seat. While the party high command wishes to field Sreenivasan Krishnan, who is considered a loyalist of party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and was a former OSD (officer on special duty) of Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran, the state unit is resisting, the leader cited above said, seeking anonymity.
Also Read | Kapil Sibal should be expelled from Congress, says party colleague TS Singh Deo
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief K Sudhakaran is trying to pitch for M Liju, who hails from Sudhakaran’s area.
While some leaders suspect that the G23 grouping within the party may see this as an opportunity to push a national-level candidate, a young leader in Kerala maintained: “It would be nearly impossible to push a non-Malayali candidate for this seat. There is already intense lobbying going on. One section of the Congress thinks that KV Thomas, a prominent Catholic leader, would be the appropriate choice to replace AK Antony. ”
In Punjab, Congress veteran Ambika Soni and former state unit chief Pratap Singh Bajwa’s term is set to get over this year. The two leaders will, however, not be able to retain their seats in the wake of the party’s poor performance in the state elections.
Similarly, party’s Rajya Sabha deputy leader Anand Sharma, who is also a prominent face of the G23 grouping, is slated to retire from Himachal Pradesh. His seat is set to go to the Bharatiya Janata Party which has managed to retain power in the state.
A decision on accommodating Sharma, especially amid the dissent by party veterans, is yet to be taken, the senior leader cited above said.
Congress’s chief whip Jairam Ramesh, considered close to both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, is set to retire from his Karnataka seat in June. He too will not be able to retain the seat since the party is out of power in the state.
A sitting MP, who doesn’t have any real estate in Delhi, is already preparing to find a guest accommodation of a party MP in North or South Avenue. Every MP is entitled to a guest accommodation and some of the retired MPs occupy these apartments to find a home in central Delhi after retirement.
