Congress determined to get Rajya Sabha seat from MP
From L S Herdenia
The Madhya Pradesh BJP by deciding to back an independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha has added an element of uncertainty in the elections to the Upper House scheduled for June 11. According to the strength in the MP Vidhan Sabha, the BJP can send two members and the Congress one. Originally the BJP decided to sponsor only two candidates but at the last minute it decided to back an independent candidate. It is said that decision to sponsor third candidate was taken at the behest of central leadership.
While on the basis of its strength the BJP is in a position to elect two but since it has sponsored the third, it cannot ensure his victory without manipulating defection from other parties, mainly from the Congress.
At present four candidates are in the field. They are Anil Dave, M.J. Akbar and Gotia of the BJP and Vivek Tankha of the Congress. For Dave, it will be second consecutive term M.J. Akbar a former journalist has been sponsored from Madhya Pradesh. The third BJP candidate Gotia is an ordinary worker of the BJP from Jabalpur. There is discontent in both the BJP and Congress over the selection of candidates. There is no opposition about Dave who is an active BJP leader. He is being rewarded for his excellent contribution in organising Vishwa Hindi Sammelan and “Vaicharik Kumbh” during the Simhastha at Ujjain.
“Vaicharik Kumbh” was attended by intellectuals from various countries. But a substantial section of the BJP has raised their eyebrows over M.J. Akbar’s selection who is a rank outsider. As for Vivek Tankha. he is also not an active leader of the Congress. There is no doubt that he is an eminent lawyer who served as Advocate General of Madhya Pradesh and Additional Attorney General of the Government of India. While criticising the choice of Tankha, Congress leaders recall that two years’ back he tried to get BJP ticket for Rajya Sabha but somehow it did not materialise. Besides he has excellent relations with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. Tankha pleaded his case in the so called Dumper scam. The only qualification he has is in being the son in law of late Ajay Narayan Mushran, who was a minister in Congress government. Both the BJP and Congress are extra cautious and trying their best to keep their flock together.
The Congress convened a meeting of party legislators on June 6. According to media reports, there were tense faces during the crucial Congress legislature party meeting held at the PCC headquarters in Bhopal .Dinesh Ahirwar, remained absent without informing the party. The meeting assumed significance as top Congress leaders from the state, including Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh, Mohan Prakash and Suresh Pachauri, assembled to chalk out the party’s strategy to win one of the three Rajya Sabha seats for which senior Supreme Court lawyer Vivek Tankha has been fielded.
Even after the Bahujan Samaj Party’s announcement of support to Tankha, the Congress is not taking any chances and is making all out efforts to ensure all the party MLAs reach Bhopal ahead of the polling day and cast their votes on June 11, the day of polling.
The Congress, which has 57 MLAs in the state assembly, needs 58 votes to win the Rajya Sabha seat. With the BSP’s four MLAs backing Tankha, the Congress is in a strong position to win the seat.
However, the absence of Satyadev Katare, leader of the opposition who is seriously sick and Govardhan Upadhyay, and Yadvendra Singh, who couldn’t attend the meeting due to some family problem, caused worries and apprehensions among the party leaders. Equally disturbing was the possible defection of Ahirwar. However, except Ahirwar, all the other MLAs who were absent had informed the state party president about their not being able to attend the meeting, the sources said.
The party discussed the election scenario. The party leaders exuded confidence that they would win the election. The party has already moved the High Court to seek a direction to the Election Commission of India to allow Katare and jailed MLA Ramesh Patel to cast their votes through postal ballot or messengers. The leaders stressed the need for training of MLAs, particularly the first-time legislators, on how to cast their votes properly. Party sources said former Union minister Kamal Nath will take care of overall election management while the state Congress president Arun Yadav will oversee the floor management.
The meeting decided to name Ram Niwas Rawat as the Chief whip for the election and another senior MLA Mahendra Singh was appointed as the election agent. The meeting was attended besides MLAs by the AICC general secretary and in-charge of MP Mohan Prakash, former union minister Kamalnath, former chief minister Digvijay Singh, former minister Kantilal Buria, former minister Suresh Pachori and PCC president Arun Yadav. The MLAs were told to read and closely follow the procedure for voting.
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The MLAs have been warned that the BJP may try to lure them or they may be prevented from reaching the assembly using dirty tricks. The MLAs have been told to be cautious till they have cast their votes. On the occasion a Power Point presentation was given to the MLAs regarding the polling process.
While talking to media, the state in-charge Mohan Prakash alleged that the BJP had violated democratic traditions by supporting an Independent candidate. He said, “the BJP is not having the numbers to get the third candidate elected. From where will the voters come? From Delhi? He asked.
The PCC president Arun Yadav alleged that the BJP was a party which could use any means; fair or foul to win. “They are very good at horse trading”, he said.
However the Congress party is happy that BJP may fall short of one more vote in the Rajya Sabha election. MLA from Devsar Rajendra Meshram may not be able to vote in the RS election following Supreme Court instructions. According to the Congress spokesperson JP Dhanopia, the Congress candidate Vivek Tankha has filed the objection before Chief Election Commissioner of India regarding the membership of the MLA of Devsar Rajendra Meshram.
Rajendra Meshram informed that he would miss the opportunity to cast his vote in the RS election. “Every vote in RS election is precious; I will witness the proceedings, but not be able to cast my vote” he said. In the assembly there are a total 230 elected members. BJP has 165 members including Meshram. The number of votes of BJP will be 165 because the speaker can vote in favour of his party. The Congress party has 57 members, BSP has four members and they are going to vote for the Congress.
There are three Independent members but they have so far not decided in whose favour they propose to vote. The nominated member Loren B Lobe has no right to cast her vote in the RS election. The BJP will have 49 votes for the Independent candidate Vinod Gotia needing nine more votes to get elected.
From where they will get nine votes is a big question mark. (IPA Service)