Press Trust of India
New Delhi, June 10: A down-to-the-wire contest is likely in some of the seats in the high-stakes Rajya Sabha elections in seven states Saturday, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana, where the fate of candidates including senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal and senior lawyer R K Anand will be decided.
While 30 of the total 57 seats in the current round of biennial elections have already been decided without a contest, Saturday’s polls will decide the fate of remaining 27 as BJP and Congress will be engaged in a keen battle for some of the states. Allegations of bribing JD(S) and Independent MLAs have marred the polls in Karnataka but the Election Commission has rejected demands for cancelling them.
All eyes are on Uttar Pradesh, where elections are being held to 11 seats. Interest is centred around a fight between Sibal and a BJP-backed independent socialite Preeti Mahapatra. Sibal will need the support of BSP, which has 12 votes more than necessary for the success of its own candidates Satish Chandra Mishra and Ashok Sidharth. BSP supremo Mayawati has maintained suspense over her party’s support in Uttar Pradesh.
But Sibal can draw heart from the fact that she has already extended backing for a Congress candidate in Madhya Pradesh by promising one vote required for senior Supreme Court lawyer Vivek Tankha, fielded by Congress. Congress has 29 MLAs and needs the backing of five more to see Sibal through.
The ruling SP has fielded seven candidates including Amar Singh and Beni Prasad Verma, who both rejoined the party recently, and Reoti Raman Singh. Its seventh candidate is, however, short of 9 first preference votes. SP has been promised backing by Ajit Singh-led RLD which has 8 MLAs. The BJP has fielded Shiv Pratap Shukla, who is sure to get elected on its own 41 MLAs, and has offered 7 surplus votes to Mahapatra.
Karnataka, where four seats are up for grab, is poised to witness a battle between the ruling Congress and the JD(S). Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of BJP, who needs just one vote more than the party’s strength of 44, and former Union ministers Jairam Ramesh and Oscar Fernandes of Congress are sure of victory.
The other state where there is keen interest in the contest is Haryana, where independent candidate R K Anand has the backing of unlikely rivals–Congress and INLD.
To checkmate BJP, which is sure of sending Union Minister Birender Singh to the Upper House, the Congress Friday extended support the support of 17 MLAs to Anand, who also has the backing of INLD’s 19 and Akali Dal’s lone MLA.
While 30 of the total
57 seats in the current
round of biennial elections have already been
decided without a
contest, Saturday’s polls will seal the fate
of the remaining 27
