Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 9: A section of the Congress members of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly were sent away to Bengaluru under the alleged threat of poaching in the face of the Rajya Sabha elections as the ruling BJP nominated a third candidate though it did not have enough votes.
The polling is scheduled to be held on June 18 for three seats to the Rajya Sabha from MP. As per the strength of the respective parties in the State Assembly, the BJP will get two seats and will fall short by 10 first preference votes for the third seat. The Congress with its strength of 62 MLAs can win one seat having four votes more than the required 58 first preference votes.
The BJP had earlier announced national general secretary Tarun Chugh and State unit secretary Rajneesh Agrawal as candidates for two seats. But soon after Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan filed her nomination on Monday, Mr Mahesh Kewat also entered the fray as the BJP’s third candidate confirming an intense contest for one of three Rajya Sabha seats going to poll on June 18.
The name of Mr Kewat, an OBC leader from the Bundelkhand region and chairperson of the State’s Fishermen Welfare Board, was announced late on Sunday after rounds of meetings of top State BJP leaders in Bhopal over the weekend and a nod from the party’s national leadership.
The BJP’s move pushed the Congress into alert mode with Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Umang Singhar hosting party MLAs and senior leaders over dinner at his residence and to discuss the election strategy. A senior party leader, present at the dinner meeting, said options such as moving the MLAs to a Congress-ruled State like Karnataka or Telangana were being considered and a report was sent to the national leadership. “Talks about moving MLAs to either Bengaluru or Hyderabad are going on as about 20 of them have said they have received communications from the BJP with offers,” the leader said.
Various Congress MLAs have alleged in the media that they were “being approached on behalf of the BJP with lucrative offers.” Mr Singhar said, “Several temptations have reached Congress MLAs regarding the Rajya Sabha elections, but our Congress colleagues have returned the BJP’s ‘jhola [bag]’ back. Congress’s 62 MLAs are united with full strength, and we are confident that support will be received from more than 62. BJP should worry about its MLAs.”
At least 48 Congress MLAs were waiting at the Bhopal airport on Tuesday evening for boarding a special chartered flight to Bengaluru. The aircraft is yet to take off from Bhopal airport with the Congress alleging that the Air Traffic Control (ATC) has been delaying in giving the take-off permission to the chartered plane.
A Congress MLA, who was is at the airport, said, “We have been here for over four hours, but we are not allowed to take off. Now, officials are saying that they will start the boarding soon.” More MLAs are expected to leave for Bengaluru later in the day, as per Congress insiders. Some senior leaders, including Mr Singhar, will leave on Wednesday. The MLAs will stay in a resort near Bengaluru for over a week and will return to Bhopal on the polling day, June 18.
The three seats that are going to fall vacant from Madhya Pradesh are currently held by Union Minister George Kurien, BJP MP Sumer Singh Solanki and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. The announcement of Mr Kewat’s candidature prompted Congress leaders to accuse the BJP of trying to indulge in horse-trading while also asserting that all of its MLAs were backing Ms Natarajan, a former Lok Sabha member considered close to party leader Rahul Gandhi.
M.P. Congress chief Jitu Patwari alleged that the BJP’s stance on the women’s reservation in Parliament and legislatures was “hollow.” “The BJP had called a special session [of Parliament and the State Assembly] a few days ago but today when a woman has got an opportunity from the Congress, it fielded the third candidate despite having less than required numbers,” he said after accompanying Ms Natarajan during her nomination.
Ms Natarajan, who is also Congress’s Telangana in-charge, dubbed the election a fight between “Gandhian ideology and the BJP’s divisive politics.” “The BJP has fielded its third candidate and now this is a battle of ideology for us as well as for democratic and constitutional values. This is a fight for dignified politics. We will fight with unity and win,” she said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav termed Mr Kewat’s candidature an effort to provide representation to OBC communities. Various other senior BJP leaders expressed confidence that the party would win all three seats, while denying charges of horse-trading.