Congress to soon hold meeting on Rajya Sabha elections

New Delhi: Congress top leadership will be holding a meeting here soon to discuss candidates for upcoming Rajya Sabha elections where the party expects to win ten seats, an improvement from the existing nine though it may lose its sitting seat in Gujarat.

Leaders like Jitendra Singh, Ajay Maken, Syed Nasir Hussain, Salman Khurshid, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Pawan Khera and Supriya Shrinate are being speculated as candidates from various states while new entrants like actress-turned-politician Vijayashanti may find space from Telangana.

While Congress is likely to lose its seat in Gujarat, presently held by Amee Yagnik, owing to its disastrous performance in last Assembly elections, the party will gain one seat in Himachal Pradesh (presently held by BJP chief JP Nadda) and two out of three in Telangana.

Congress will also win three sitting seats in Karnataka and could retain one each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Sources said the top leaders are likely to meet by Saturday with Rahul Gandhi returning to the national capital for a two-day break from his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. However, the candidate list may not be released till the Bihar trust vote results are out on Monday, as there is time till next Thursday for filing nominations.

Sources said party General Secretary Jitendra Singh is the front runner for the lone seat from Rajasthan, a seat which former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is unlikely to recontest. Another name that has cropped up for the seat is Treasurer Maken, though he could also be fielded from Madhya Pradesh where Arun Yadav is also in contention.

Maken had lost the Rajya Sabha election by a whisker from Haryana owing to infighting in the state unit earlier and the leadership is said to be of the view that he should be rewarded this time.

While Nasir is likely to be renominated from Karnataka, it is not clear whether the party will look for new faces or retain GC Chandrasekhar and L Hanumanthaiah. Sources said the thinking in the party is that they should field all locals in Karnataka and Telangana, as they want to maximise seats from these states.

There is also speculation that Sonia Gandhi may contest the Rajya Sabha election from one of these states or Himachal Pradesh. However, a section in the party believe that if at all she chooses Rajya Sabha route, she should fight from Rajasthan and not a southern state, as it would reinforce perception that the party is more south-focussed after Rahul Gandhi’s Wayanad foray.

From Telangana, sources said, Vijayashanti’s name is being speculated as one of the candidates while a section of leaders are arguing that she should ideally contest the Lok Sabha elections. Former MP Subirami Reddy is also lobbying for a seat in Rajya Sabha.

Names of youth leaders BV Srinivas and Kanhaiya Kumar are also being speculated to be sent to Rajya Sabha though a section of senior leaders argue that they should ideally fight Lok Sabha elections. Some party workers have already approached senior leaders demanding that Kumar be fielded from the West Delhi seat, which has substantial voters hailing from Bihar.