New Delhi: The elections for six seats of the Rajya Sabha in three states began on Thursday, March 31 even as the Upper House bid farewell to 72 members who have taken part in their final session.
While elections were supposed to be conducted for 13 seats, the Congress and the BJP did not field their candidates for the five seats from Punjab, thereby allowing the five Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nominees to get elected unopposed. Similarly, the Congress did not oppose the BJP nominee’s candidature from Himachal Pradesh. And in Nagaland, S. Phangnon Konyak had been declared elected unopposed earlier
The elections now are taking place for six seats. Of these two are in Assam, three in Kerala, and one in Tripura.
Last week, five Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs were elected unopposed from Punjab, as the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not field their candidates. The five candidates picked by AAP were Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha, IIT-Delhi professor Sandeep Pathak, chancellor of Lovely Professional University Ashok Mittal, industrialist Sanjeev Arora and former cricketer Harbhajan Singh.
In Himachal Pradesh, BJP’s Sikander Kumar got elected unopposed replacing Congress’s Anand Sharma – who was part of the ‘G-23 group’ of the Congress leaders who are seeking internal reforms in the party.
S. Phangnon Konyak – Nagaland’s first woman Rajya Sabha MP – was elected unopposed from the state.
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Outcome of three seats almost a certainty in Kerala
The three seats falling vacant in Kerala are those of Congress leader and former Union minister A.K. Antony; Loktantrik Janata Dal MP and managing director of Mathrubhumi publications M. V. Shreyams Kumar; and Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP Somaprasad K.
In Kerala, going by the current strength of the assembly (it has 99 MLAs in the 140-member house), the Left Democratic Front can win two of the seats. The Left Democratic Front has fielded All India president of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, A.A. Rahim, and CPI Kannur district secretary, P. Santhosh Kumar.
Meanwhile, the Congress has declared the state chief of its women’s wing, Jebi Mather, as its Rajya Sabha candidate.
Congress may lose out in Assam
In Assam, Congress’s Ranee Narah and Ripun Bora will retire in April. However, the party has retained Bora as its candidate this time.
Meanwhile, the BJP has fielded its spokesperson, Pabitra Margherita, and Rwngwra Narzary, the candidate of its alliance partner United Peoples Party Liberal’s (UPPL). The saffron party is confident of winning both the seats due to its strength in the House, where it has 83 of the 126 MLAs.
A candidate needs 43 votes to get elected in this state.
The problem for the Congress here is its former ally the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). Ahead of the polls, the state Congress accused the AIUDF of “selling” five of its lawmakers to benefit the ruling BJP and its allies.
The AIUDF has committed to support only Bora. A split in votes could end up benefiting the saffron party.
In Tripura, the lone seat has been left vacant by the Left Front’s Jharna Das Baidya, who is among the 13 MPs set to retire.
While the BJP has fielded its state president, Manik Saha, who had joined the party in 2016, the CPI(M) has fielded former Tripura finance minister and sitting MLA, Bhanu Lal Saha.
The BJP has 33 MLAs in the assembly; its ally, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura, has eight MLAs while the CPI(M) has 15 legislators in the House.
PM Modi bids farewell to retiring MPs
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday bid farewell to the retiring Rajya Sabha members, saying: “We have spent a long time in this parliament. This House has contributed a lot to our lives, more than we have contributed to it. The experience gathered as a member of this House should be taken to all four directions of the country.”
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge during a photo session with retiring members of Rajya Sabha, in the second part of the Budget Session, at Parliament, in New Delhi, Thursday, March 31, 2022. Photo: PTI
“Our Rajya Sabha members have a lot of experience…sometimes experience has more power than academic knowledge. We will say to the retiring members ‘come again’,” the prime minister said.
Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, recalled the contribution of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in strengthening the traditions of the Upper House. “Nehruji provided Rajya Sabha with power and integrity. He made the Rajya Sabha MPs the members of various committees. Except, in the case of Money Bills, both the Houses are equally powerful,” he said.
“Rajya Sabha is a permanent House, some members will retire while some others will come, it’ll go on forever. We might have difference of opinions but we have to ensure that we work efficiently,” he added.
As 72 members will be retiring from the Rajya Sabha, it will change the strength of various parties in the House. Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu is due to host a dinner for the retiring MPs on Thursday.
Some of the prominent MPs from the Rajya Sabha who are retiring are Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman; Union textiles, industry, commerce and food minister Piyush Goyal; former Union ministers Jairam Ramesh and P. Chidambaram of the Congress. Among the other MPs are Union minister Praful Patel of the Nationalist Congress Party; Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena; nominated MPs Subramanian Swamy, actor Roopa Ganguly and boxer MC Mary Kom, and former Union minister, journalist and BJP MP M.J. Akbar; Sukhdev Singh and Naresh Gujral of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), Partap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo of the Congress, and Shwait Malik of the BJP.