Rajya Sabha election 2020: Battle narrows down to 18 seats in seven states

The stage is set for election to 18 Rajya Sabha seats spread across seven states. The 18 seats for which polling will be held on March 26 include four each in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, three each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, two in Jharkhand and one each in Manipur and Meghalaya.

Nominations were filed for 55 Rajya Sabha seats in 17 states. Of these, 37 candidates were elected unopposed after the deadline for withdrawal of nomination ended on Wednesday.

Madhya Pradesh

A mouth-watering battle is on the cards in Madhya Pradesh where the Kamal Nath government is struggling to save the government following a rebellion by 22 MLAs. Both the ruling Congress and BJP have announced two candidates each for the state’s three seats. As per the state’s arithmetic, both the Congress and BJP are in a comfortable position to secure the victory of one of their candidates.

While Jyotiraditya Scindia, who left the Congress and joined the BJP, and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh are expected to comfortably win in the polls, BJP’s Sumer Singh Solanki and Phool Singh Baraiya of the Congress are likely to slug it out for the third seat.

After the resignation of six Congress MLAs, which was accepted by the Speaker and the ongoing suspense over participation of 16 other MLAs who have also resigned, the Congress will be in a difficult situation to win the second seat. The BJP, if this situation prevails, has an upper hand and will bag the third seat. Before resignations, the Congress was set to win two of three seats.

Gujarat

The BJP-ruled Gujarat is also expected to witness a close contest. While elections will be held for four seats, both the BJP and Congress have fielded five candidates. The BJP has fielded Abhay Bharadwaj, Ramilaben Bara and Narhari Amin while Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki are in the fray from the Congress.

The Gujarat Legislative Assembly has 182 seats. Since two seats are vacant, there are 180 MLAs who will be voting on March 26. Interestingly, five Congress MLAs have resigned from the assembly over the last few days, reducing its strength and also diminishing the party’s chances to win both the seats. While the BJP has 103 MLAs, the Congress has 68 members. The Congress, however, enjoys the support of independent MLA Jignesh Mevani. Even if Mevani votes for the Congress, the party will have to settle for only one seat despite fielding two candidates.

Andhra Pradesh

In Andhra Pradesh, according to the Returning Officer, five candidates are in the fray for four seats. The ruling YSRCP has fielded Deputy Chief Minister Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, Minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao, realtor A Ayodhya Rami Reddy and Reliance Industries Senior Group President Parimal Nathwani. TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has fielded party general secretary Varla Ramaiah for the Rajya Sabha election. In the 175-member Legislative Assembly, the YSR Congress has 151 seats and the ruling party will win all the four seats. The TDP has just 23 members. A minimum of 36 votes is required for a candidate to win the Rajya Sabha seat from Andhra Pradesh.

Jharkhand

For the two seats in Jharkhand, the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has fielded JMM chief Shibu Soren and Shahzada Anwar of the Congress, while state BJP president Deepak Prakash is the party’s candidate. In the current Assembly that has 81 seats, the JMM led ruling coalition has 46 MLAs and the BJP and AJSU have 28 MLAs. BJP nominee Deepak Prakash enjoys the support of 29 legislators, 26 of his own party, including Babulal Marandi, two of AJSU and one Independent. The chance of the Congress candidate appears dim.

Rajasthan

In Rajasthan, elections will be held to three Rajya Sabha seats. The Congress has nominated party general secretary KC Venugopal and state general secretary Neeraj Dangi. The opposition BJP has named Rajendra Gehlot as its candidate. The saffron party has also fielded its senior leader Omkar Singh Lakhawat. Although chances of cross-voting are thin, the BJP hopes to cash in on the factionalism within the Congress by fielding Lakhawat.

Congress party’s only Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan is former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He was elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha bypolls last year after the seat fell vacant following the death of BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Madan Lal Saini. The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly has 200 seats and the Congress party, which came to power in December 2018, has a total of 107 MLAs. The BJP has 72 MLAs.

Manipur

In Manipur, Naga People’s Front (NPF) nominee Honreikhui Kashung withdrew his candidature on the last day for the lone Rajya Sabha seat, making it a two-corner contest. While the BJP has fielded Manipur’s titular king Leisemba Sanajaoba, the Congress has nominated T Mangi Babu. In the 60-member House, the ruling BJP led alliance has the support of 37 MLAs and Congress has 23 members including four of NPF.

Meghalaya

In Meghalaya, polling will take place for the lone Rajya Sabha seat on March 26. While the ruling National People’s Party has fielded Wanwei Roy Kharlukhi, the opposition Congress has nominated Kennedy Cornelius Khyiem. The NPP led alliance has 39 MLAs in the 60-member House. The opposition Congress led alliance has 21 members.