Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, June 5
Ahead of the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections for 16 seats in four states, the Congress on Sunday appointed party observers in Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Maharashtra to look for official candidates.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Congress Himachal Pradesh in-charge Rajiv Shukla will oversee the RS elections in Haryana; Former Union Minister Pawan Bansal and Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singhdeo in Rajasthan.
In parallel, the Congress continues to woo MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who skipped the process of filing nominations for official candidate Ajay Maken in Haryana, raising concerns. Rahul Gandhi is said to have personally spoken to Bishnoi, who has kept his cards near his chest.
In Rajasthan too, the party is actively wooing independent candidates who will determine the winner. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday met six MLAs who were elected on BSP tickets and later joined the Congress and claimed their support, though the BSP yesterday issued a whip asking them to vote for BJP candidates in the state. .
In both Rajasthan and Haryana, the race for the RS election may go to the wire, with more candidates in fray than seats.
Five people are contesting on four seats in Rajasthan. While the BJP is supporting former minister Ghanshyam Tiwari and independent media baron Subhash Chandra, the Congress has fielded Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari in that order.
An RS winner needs 41 votes in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, with the Congress’ strength of 108 MLAs and the BJP’s 71.
It is in the hands of independent candidates in Rajasthan, where the Congress has shifted over 40 MLAs to a resort in Udaipur to prevent any horse-trading attempts and claims it has 126 MLAs behind it.
In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the first winner requires 31 votes and the second requires 30 votes, with Maken counting on all 31 Congress MLAs, including Bishnoi.
Elections are to be held on six seats in Maharashtra and four in Karnataka.