Nomination process ends, stage set for elections to 55 RS seats

New Delhi: Former Union minister and newly inducted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jyotiraditya Scindia was among candidates who filed their nomination papers

New Delhi: Former Union minister and newly inducted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jyotiraditya Scindia was among candidates who filed their nomination papers on Friday for the 55 Rajya Sabha seats to which elections will take place on March 26. Friday was the last day for filing of nominations, Scindia is in fray from Madhya Pradesh, his home state.

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Other prominent leaders to file their nominations were Congress leaders K C Venugopal from Rajasthan and Deepender Hooda from Haryana; BJP ‘s Vivek Thakur, son of former union minister CP Thakur, from Bihar; and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha patriarch Shibu Soren from Jharkhand.

In Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar , Union minister and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally Ramdas Athawale and Congress leader Rajiv Satav also filed their nominations.

In Madhya Pradesh, apart from Scindia, Sumer Singh Solanki and Ranjana Baghel filed their nomination papers as BJP candidates. Congress candidate Phool Singh Baraiya too filed his documents. Congress veteran and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh did so on Thursday.

Although Scindia and Singh are likely to get elected on first preference votes, the third seat will see a contest between Baraiya and Solanki. Baghel is a covering candidate for Scindia and Solanki, just in case the nomination papers of one of the two are rejected .

Madhya Pradesh’s returning officer AP Singh said, “The scrutiny of nomination papers (for MP) will be done by March 15 while nomination papers can be withdrawn by March 16.”

Scindia filed his nomination papers two days after joining the BJP, ending his 18-year association with the Congress. His departure has plunged the Congress government of Madha Pradesh into a crisis, with 22 purported followers of Scindia seeking to resign from the state legislature.

After the political turmoil in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress seems to be taking a tough stand in Rajasthan, where chief minister Ashok Gehlot prevailed over his deputy Sachin Pilot in the choice of nominees.

The Congress named its general secretary K C Venugopal and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) general secretary Neeraj Dangi as Rajya Sabha candidates. The BJP had named Rajendra Gehlot.

An interesting contest is in the works in Gujarat, with a contest likely for a fourth seat. Going by the numbers in the state assembly, the BJP could win two seats and the Congress one. The three candidates likely to win are BJP’s Abhay Bharadwaj and Ramilaben Bara and the Congress’s Bharatsinh Solank.For the fourth seat, the contest would be between BJP-backed Narhari Amin and Solanki. BJP, having 103 MLAs, will need seven more votes and the Congress, with 73 MLAs, needs 18 more.

In Jharkhand, JMM chief Soren, who filed his nomination on Wednesday, is set to sail through as his party has 29 seats in the assembly, at least two more than the 27 first preference votes required for him to get elected. Both the BJP and the JMM-led ruling alliance have claimed they have the numbers to win the second seat. Going by the numbers in the assembly, the BJP candidate is the front-runner.

The BJP currently has 26 legislators, including Babulal Marandi, and is all set to get the support of two All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU( Party legislators. Besides, the BJP is also trying to win over the two independents---Saryu Roy and Amit Yadav. Both were BJP rebels who won as independents.

The Congress has fielded Shahzada Anwar against the BJP’s Deepak Prakash. Anwar is a long-time Congress worker and has unsuccessfully contested the Ramgarh assembly seat twice in the past.

Chief minister Hemant Soren, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ministers were present during the filing of Anwar’s nomination papers. “The alliance would win both the seats. We are moving with a strategy which will be clear at the right time,” Soren said.

In West Bengal nomination of an Independent candidate backed by the state’s ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC) had added a twist to the elections to five seats from the state, as the sixth nomination is likely to result in a close contest.

For these five seats, TMC has fielded four candidates and the Congress has backed the Left’s Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya. On Friday, former TMC legislator Dinesh Bajaj said he will be filing his nomination papers as an independent candidate and the TMC wouldl back him. This will make the election of Bhattacharya difficult.

In Bihar, two candidates each of the RJD and Janata Dal (United) and one candidate of the BJP have filed nomination papers and all fiver are likely to be elected unopposed. RJD fielded Prem Chandra Gupta and Amarendra Dhari Singh, the JDU nominated Harivansh and sitting MP Ram Nath Thakur, while the BJP’s Vivek Thakur looks set to make his parliamentary debut.Some BJP leaders are opposing the nomination of Thakur on grounds that it promoted “dynastic politics” because Thakur is the son of former Union minister CP Thakur.

In Tamil Nadu, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) are expected to win three seats each and in Telangana, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi is set to win the two seats. In Andhra Pradesh, the rulig YSR Congress Party is set to win all four seats.

In Haryana, BJP’s Ram Chandra Jangra, Congress leader Hooda and the party’s national vice-president Dushyant Kumar Gautam are set to enter the Rajya Sabha. Given the prevailing strength of MLAs of the ruling BJP (40) and Congress (31) in the assembly, polling is unlikely to be held and all three candidates are likely to be elected without votes being cast.

In Assam, the opposition Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) have fielded journalist-cum-anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act activist Ajit Bhuyan and the NDA has fielded Biswajit Daimary of the Bodoland Peoples’ Front and Bhubaneshwar Kalita of the BJP. All the three are likely to win without a contest.

(With inputs from regional bureaus)