Oppn parties hold meeting for RS Dy Chairman election

Opposition parties on Monday held a meeting here to finalise their strategy for the election of the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha.

The election to the post of Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha will be held at 11 AM on August 9, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu announced on Monday.

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, SP's Ram Gopal Yadav, DMK's Tiruchi Siva, BSP's Satish Chandra Mishra, NCP's Praful Patel, CPI's D Raja, TMC's Derek O'Brien, RJD's Misa Bharti, CPI(M)'s T K Rangarajan and TDP's C M Ramesh were among those who attended the meeting in Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad's chamber in Parliament House.

They met to prepare the opposition strategy for the election and discuss various names for zeroing in on a candidate they can jointly field against the NDA nominee.

JD(U) MP Harivansh is likely to be the NDA candidate, sources said.

Earlier, Naidu had suggested that the deputy chairman should be elected by consensus. However, as of now, it appears an election would take place for the post with the opposition likely to field a candidate as well, the sources said.

The nomination papers will have to be filed before noon on August 8.

The post of the Deputy Chairman has been lying vacant since June this year following the retirement of P J Kurien, who was elected to the Upper House of Parliament on a Congress ticket from Kerala.