Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana, Odisha and Bihar: Extra candidates, independents set stage for intense contest

New Delhi: Haryana, Odisha and Bihar will witness elections to Rajya Sabha on March 16 as independents and an RLM candidate backed by the BJP have entered the fray despite the ruling party not having the numbers to get them through.

The interesting fight will be in Haryana where party state vice president Satish Nandal has filed nomination papers as an independent candidate, the third in the fray for two seats.

As per the Assembly strength, both BJP and Congress can win one seat each as they can easily cough up 31 first preference votes needed for victory. BJP with 48 MLAs have the support of three independents and also expects two INLD MLAs to vote for it.

Even if BJP transfers its surplus votes, Nandal would be short of nine votes. With Haryana witnessing cross-voting, Congress managers have their fingers crossed, as the party central leadership chose little-known Karamvir Singh Boudh as its candidate ignoring the claims of seniors like Uday Bhan and Ashok Tanwar. BJP has fielded former Lok Sabha MP Sanjay Bhatia.

In Bihar, NDA has fielded candidates for all five seats, though it can ensure victory of only four candidates. With the RJD-led Opposition alliance short of six votes to get its candidate in, the NDA has fielded RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha with the expectation of cross-voting. It needs just three more votes from the Opposition to get him through.

The entry of businessman-politician Dilip Ray as an independent candidate for Rajya Sabha election with BJP support has queered the pitch in Odisha.

In Odisha, four seats are going to polls and given the numbers in Assembly, BJP can win two seats, which has announced the candidature of Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal and sitting MP Sujeet Kumar and BJD could bag one, which has been allotted to Dr Santrupt Misra, a close aide of party chief Naveen Patnaik.

With an aim to keep BJP away from snatching the fourth seat, BJD, Congress and CPI(M) have joined hands and decided to support a common candidate Dr Datteswar Hota. While BJD does not have numbers on its own to get the fourth seat, the entry of Congress and CPI(M) have assured numbers on its side at least on papers.