RS polls: Keen contest on cards in MP, J’khand amid cross-voting speculation

NEW DELHI, June 8: Cross-voting is expected in the June 18 Rajya Sabha elections in Jharkhand and MP, where an interesting contest has unfolded with the entry of BJP-backed candidates, as the NDA inches towards a two-thirds majority in the Upper House.
While the BJP fielded Mahesh Kewat against Meenakshi Natarajan of the Congress for the third seat in MP, it has backed Parimal Nathwani for the second seat in Jharkhand against Congress’ Pranav Jha.
A total of 28 candidates are in the fray for 26 seats in 12 states across the country, with direct contests in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.
The Election Commission announced to hold the elections on June 18 following the retirement of the incumbents, including former prime minister Deve Gowda, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Digvijaya Singh, and two Union ministers, Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian.
Rajya Sabha polls will be held in 10 states where 24 incumbents are retiring on different dates between June 21 and July 19. Two bypolls will also be held in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Of the total 26 seats, the NDA currently has 18 and the Congress four while one seat is with the JMM and three are with the YSRCP.
The NDA is likely to increase its numbers in the upcoming elections.
In Jharkhand, where elections are being held for two seats, JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram and Congress nominee Pranav Jha have filed nominations, while Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh, Parimal Nathwani, also filed his nomination as an Independent candidate.
The INDIA bloc has 56 MLAs in Jharkhand and each candidate needs to get 28 first preference votes to win. The BJP has 21 MLAs along with one each from the JDU, LJP (Ram Vilas) and the All Jharkhand Students Union.
The Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha has one seat, and Nathwani needs three cross-votes to win. He had been a two-term Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand between 2008 and 2020, and is currently a YSRCP MP in the Upper House. His term ends on June 21.
In Madhya Pradesh, where three seats will go to the polls, the BJP has fielded candidates for all the seats, while the Congress has nominated its former Lok Sabha MP Meenakshi Natarajan.
The BJP is comfortably placed to win two seats based on the party’s numerical strength in the Assembly, and the Congress one seat.
The BJP has fielded Mahesh Kewat against Natarajan and is confident of winning the third seat. The other two BJP nominees are Tarun Chugh and Rajneesh Aggarwal.
While Chugh and Aggarwal filed their nominations on Saturday, Kewat, who heads the Fishermen Welfare Board, filed his papers on Monday. In MP the BJP having 164 MLAs and the Congress 64. Each candidate must secure 58 votes to secure victory.
The BJP needs 116 votes to win two seats, leaving it with a surplus of 48 votes, but still short of the 10 votes needed for the third seat. (PTI)