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In numbers, Congress has edge for polls to third Rajya Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh
According to the Madhya Pradesh assembly secretariat, a candidate for Rajya Sabha will need 58 votes to win the election.
With the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) set to win one Rajya Sabha seat each from Madhya Pradesh, the election for the third seat is turning out to be a keen contest, considering the dissent in the Congress.
According to Madhya Pradesh assembly secretariat, a candidate for Rajya Sabha will need 58 votes to win the election.
The Congress with 114 MLAs and assured support of an independent, Pradeep Jaiswal (a minister in Kamal Nath cabinet), can win both provided that at least one of the three other independents, two BSP and one SP legislators supports the party’s second candidate.
Two BSP, one SP and three independents were traced to a Gurugram hotel last week, creating a scare for the Kamal Nath led Congress government in the state. Though they have assured of support to Kamal Nath, they have not spoken on their voting preference for the RS polls.
The BJP with 107 law-makers can win one seat each and will need the support of at-least two Congress legislators, in addition to the independents, two BSP, one SP MLAs, who are supporting the Congress.
The election to Rajya Sabha for three seats from Madhya Pradesh falling vacant on April 9 is due on March 26 and the last date for filing the nomination papers is March 13.
Of the three RS seats falling vacant from MP, two were held by BJP, Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatia, and one was with the Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. Both the parties have not announced their respective candidates for the polls.
MP BJP president, VD Sharma, on Sunday, made it clear that the party was keen to win the second RS seat also. However, the final decision on the same would be taken by the party’s central leadership, he added.
The BJP is pinning hope on dissent within the Congress.
“We need at least 9 MLAs from the rival camp including BSP, SP and independent MLAs. The MLAs, who left for Delhi, were 10. We know well that many of the Congress MLAs may not vote for BJP candidates as they would be covered by the whip. Our party leaders are working on how to manage the situation in case of a whip,” said a senior BJP leader, who was not willing to be quoted.
Another BJP leader, said, “The party is working on a plan-B too to see if any MLA from the rival (Congress) camp or any influential person can be fielded as the fourth candidate if there is no chance of BJP candidate winning.”
On Sunday, BJP sent a panel of more than 20 names to central BJP leadership to select the candidates from among them, after the state BJP election committee meeting. Those whose names find mention in the list include Prabhat Jha, Satyanarayan Jatia, Ram Madhav, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Vijesh Lunawat, Vinod Gotia, Deepak Vijayvargiya, Hitesh Bajpai, Vijendra Sisodia, said a BJP leader.
On the other hand, the Congress is looking at BJP legislators, who can support the party candidates. “Our strategy is to rope in as many BJP MLAs to compensate if BJP poaches our legislators. Two BJP MLAs have already spoken in favour of CM Kamal Nath and there are at least four to five others who can help us during the election,” a senior Congress leader, requesting anonymity said.
State BJP vice-president Vijesh Lunawat said, “We are very much sure that we can get two seats. Our prospects are not based on dissidence in Congress. We are confident of getting support from MLAs from the other side.”
State Congress spokesperson, Bhupendra Gupta said, “All our MLAs are with us. All the BSP, SP and independent MLAs are with us. We are least worried about our prospects on winning the 2nd Rajya Sabha seat too.”
