Presidential Election
Kovind, Venkaiah unlikely to get another term
The election to choose the next President of India is due next month. Along with the President, a new Vice-President will also be chosen. The BJP, along with its allies, has a comfortable majority in the presidential electoral college comprising MPs of both Houses of Parliament and MLAs of all state assemblies. The BJP-led NDA also commands the required majority in two houses of Parliament to elect the next Vice-President. New Delhi’s political circles are buzzing with discussions on the possible choices for the next occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhawan. There appears near unanimity in BJP and the larger Sangh circles that President Ramnath Kovind and Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu may not get another term. No President, with the sole exception of first President Rajendra Prasad, has got a second term in office. Many names are mentioned, but a caveat is always added that nobody knows the mind of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who alone will finalise candidates for the two top constitutional offices of the Indian republic. The Prime Minister has pulled out a surprise every time a top appointment was made, and proved all speculations and guesses wrong. It appears safer to find out ‘who not’, rather than venturing into guessing ‘who next’ in the current dispensation. While the BJP appears on solid ground in the presidential elections, there’s also a move to field an opposition candidate with the support of NDA ally and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Though Kumar has not given any indication of supporting a non-NDA candidate, leaders such as Mamata Bannerjee and K Chandrashekhar Rao are reportedly trying to engage him through back-channels and offering to support his choice of candidate. Nitish has been upset with the BJP for some time and has been moving closer to Lalu Yadav’s RJD. But the numbers in the electoral college are such that Nitish’s desertion may rock the NDA boat, but would not be able to sink it.
Rajya Sabha Polls
Battle of relatives and friends in Haryana
In the current round of Rajya Sabha election for 57 seats, polling for which is scheduled on June 10, the most interesting contest is the one in Haryana between Congress leader Ajay Maken and media baron Kartikeya Sharma. These two candidates are distant relatives. Ajay Maken’s uncle Lalit Maken was the son-in-law of former President of India Shankar Dayal Sharma. Kartikeya’s uncle was married to a daughter of Shankar Dayal Sharma. Maken and Kartikeya frequently get together at family functions but are pitted against each other. Kartikeya is the son of Vinod Sharma, who was a minister in Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s government in Haryana, and was considered Hooda’s closest friend. Hooda had brought this hotelier friend from Chandigarh and given him a Congress ticket from Ambala, and then made him a minister. The two friends have fallen out and are now facing each other indirectly in elections, with Hooda backing the Congress candidate and Vinod his son. The election for this seat may get tighter than most think. To win this Rajya Sabha seat, a candidate requires 31 votes. Congress has exactly 31 MLAs in the state Assembly. The BJP has 40. After electing its candidate with 31 votes, the BJP will have nine surplus votes. The party has committed these votes to Kartikeya. BJP’s partner in the state government, Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) of deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala has 10 MLAs. The JJP has been the prime sponsor of Kartikeya. Then there is one vote each of Abhay Chautala and Gopal Kanda. These two votes are also likely to go to Kartikeya. This takes Kartikeya’s total support to 21. The fight is for the seven independents. The state government, BJP and Vinod Sharma are together trying to win over these seven independents, besides some Congress MLAs with an offer of ticket in the upcoming state elections. Hooda too is in touch with the independents. Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who has been upset with party leadership, is also giving Maken and Hooda the jitters.