Rajya Sabha elections: Unease in Rajasthan Congress, MLA alleges ‘lack of respect’

Rajya Sabha elections: In Rajasthan, the signs of unease appeared in the party after a section of MLAs alleged they were not getting the respect they should receive.

The suspense over the Rajya Sabha elections in Rajasthan and Haryana continued on Friday, a day after an uneasy Congress corralled its MLAs to hotels in Udaipur and Raipur, both cities in Congress-ruled states.

The Congress has shifted its MLAs to Udaipur ahead of Rajya Sabha elections next week. (PTI)

In Rajasthan, the signs of unease appeared in the party after a section of MLAs alleged they were not getting the respect they should receive.

Minister of state for sainik welfare, Rajendra Gudha, one of the six MLAs who won the 2018 assembly elections on a Bahujan Samaj Party symbol and merged with Congress in 2019, claimed the breakaway group was not being treated with respect. “The MLAs (who merged with Congress) are not getting the respect they deserve. (Chief minister Ashok) Gehlot does speak a lot about respect but it would have been better if he sat with us and spoke about our worries,” Gudha said.

Gudha and four other MLAs are yet to arrive at the luxury hotel in Udaipur where other party MLAs were shifted recently. The party had recently held its ‘Chintan Shivir’ (brainstorming session) in this hotel.

Gudha also said certain commitments made by AICC general secretary in charge Ajay Maken in the past have not been fulfilled.

A senior party leader, however, said only two MLAs – Balwan Poonia and Girdhari Lal – were not at the hotel due to “party work”.

The leader, who asked not to be named, added that two Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) legislators – Rajkumar Roat and Ramprasad – have raised some issues. “Two MLAs of BTP - Rajkumar Roat and Ramprasad have raised some issues, which are being resolved, and they will soon join the rest at the hotel,” this person said.

Elections to 57 seats in the Upper House of Parliament, spread across 15 states and Union territories, are slated to be held on June 10. Four of these seats are from Congress-ruled Rajasthan, and two are from Haryana.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the principal opposition party in Rajasthan assembly, and leads the ruling alliance in Haryana.

The Congress has fielded three candidates in Rajasthan – Mukul Wasnik, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Pramod Tiwari. The BJP has named former state minister Ghanshyam Tiwari as its candidate and has decided to support independent Subhash Chandra’s candidature.

The ruling Congress, with 108 MLAs in the assembly, is set to win two of the four seats which are vacant; the BJP is set to win one.

The Congress will then have 26 surplus votes, but 15 short of the required 41 to win the third seat. The BJP, which has 71 MLAs, will be left with 30 surplus votes after securing its seat.

There are 13 independents in the assembly, with the Communist Party of India (CPI) having two seats, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) three, the Bharatiya Tribal Party two, and the Rashtriya Lok Dal one.

There was no clarity whom the two independent MLAs — Yadav and Ramila Khardiya — and the two BTP legislators, who have been supporting the Congress-led Rajasthan government, will support.

Congress functionaries familiar with the development said barring independent MLA Baljeet Yadav, all other independents have reached the hotel.

While Gehlot has expressed confidence that the Congress would pull through with the support of independents and friendly parties, analysts say Chandra’s nomination has made it a close race to the finish line.

The senior party leader cited above said the Congress is confident of the CPM’s support in the polls.

For the two seats in Haryana, the Congress has fielded one candidate, Ajay Maken, and the BJP has fielded Kishan Lal Panwar, apart from extending support to businessman Kartikeya Sharma.

The number needed to win an Upper House seat is 30 in the 90-member assembly, and though the Congress has 31 members, the BJP and its allies in government have 57 members. This means the ruling alliance will have 27 excess votes after it secures its seat, and just two cross-votes from the Congress could enable Sharma to get elected.

On Thursday, 27 state Congress MLAs were flown to Raipur on a charter plane and sent to Mayfair hotel on the outskirts of the city. Kuldeep Bishnoi and Chiranjeev Rao are yet to arrive in the Chhattisgarh capital.

“Rao is likely to reach Raipur in the next couple of days since he was out of Haryana. Bishnoi is upset (as he was not offered Haryana Congress president post) and the party is trying to reach out to him. However, chances of his arrival to Raipur appear to be bleak,” a leader of Chhattisgarh Congress said, seeking anonymity.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said all is well in the party.

“Everything is alright and meetings are taking place. The BJP uses horse trading as a tactic, and brings people into their fold using force and deceit. This has happened in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and then Gujarat,” he said.