Rajya Sabha Polls Today; Focus On 5 States As Punjab AAP Picks Elected Unopposed

With five AAP nominees from Punjab elected unopposed last week, focus is now on five states – Assam, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Tripura – where the Rajya Sabha elections for eight seats will be held on Thursday.

While two candidates are to be elected from Assam, three will be picked from Kerala; and Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Tripura will elect one member of parliament each. The Rajya sabha polls come about three weeks after the results for the assembly elections for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab were announced where the BJP won four of five states and the AAP won Punjab.

Here are ten points on Rajya Sabha polls for 13 seats:

1. From Punjab, the term ends for five MPs in April – Akali Dal’s Sukhdev Singh and Naresh Gujral, Congress’s Partap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo, and the BJP’s Shwait Mali. Kerala MPs – A. K. Antony, Left ally M. V. Shreyams Kumar, and CPI’s Somaprasad K; and Assam MPs – Ranee Narah, Ripun Bora – are also set to retire in April. G-23 leader Congress’s Anand Sharma, representing Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland’s KG Kenye and and Tripura’s Jharna Das (Baidya) are also among the 13 MPs set to retire.

2. Days after a landslide win in Punjab, the AAP picked five nominees from Punjab who were elected unopposed – former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha, IIT-Delhi professor Sandeep Pathak, Lovely Professional University chancellor Ashok Mittal and industrialist Sanjeev Arora. The Congress, which has been voted out of power from the state, objected that the candidates should have been from Punjab.

3. For Assam, the BJP spokesperson Pabitra Margherita has been picked by the ruling party for one of the two seats. The BJP’s alliance partner United Peoples Party Liberal’s (UPPL) Rwngwra Narzary is contesting for the other seat. Congress’s Rupin Bora, whose term ends on April 2, has been picked by the party again for the polls. According to analysts, Margherita’s victory is almost certain as the BJP has 83 of 126 assembly seats. For the second seat, Narzary and Bora will have to battle it out.

4. Ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls, differences have emerged between the Congress and its ally, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) that has been accused of “stealing five lawmakers of the party”. “We joined hands with AIUDF for the polls for the sake of Opposition unity against the BJP. But a few days back AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal expressed doubts about the integrity of five of our lawmakers and said they could side with the BJP,” said Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah.

5. The AIUDF has issued a whip to its 15 MLAs to be present in the assembly on Thursday. In Assam, a candidate needs 43 votes to get elected. Congress (26), AIUDF (15), CPI (M), and Raijor Dal have 43 votes. A suspended Congress lawmaker is expected to vote for BJP and its ally. The AIUDF has assured support for Bora.

6. Assam sends seven members to Rajya Sabha in total. Besides the two held by Bora and Narah, three are with the BJP (Sarbananda Sonowal, Bhubaneswar Kalita and Kamakhya Prasad Tasa), one with the BJP’s ally Asom Gana Parishad (Birendra Prasad Baishya) and one with Anchalik Gana Morcha (Ajit Kumar Bhuyan).

7. Kerala’s Jebi Mather is the first woman candidate chosen by the Congress from the southern state after 42 years.

8. Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb held a meeting with MLAs on Wednesday. “Had a meeting with @BJP4Tripura and IPFT MLA regarding preparations for tomorrow’s Rajya Sabha seat election for #Tripura. Our best wishes to @DrManikSaha2 ji. (sic),” he tweeted.

9. Rajya Sabha is also expected to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi and vice president M. Venkaiah Naidu speak on Thursday as 72 members retire. On Wednesday, Naidu announced in the House that Zero Hour and Question Hour will not be taken up so as to enable the leaders and members to speak on the occasion.

10. The BJP is the single-largest party in the 245-member house. The retirements will bring down the Congress’s tally in the Upper House down to 28 from 34 and that of the BJP’s from 97 to 92.