NEW DELHI: With MLAs returning from resorts to state legislative assemblies to vote for Rajya Sabha candidates on Friday, two media barons Subhash Chandra of Zee Network and Kartikeya Sharma of India News appeared to have lost the numbers game.
Kartikeya, owner of multiple TV news channels and son of former Haryana minister and hotelier Venod Sharma, needs 31 votes to win in Haryana. He has been sponsored by the 10- member Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) headed by Dushyant Chautala. The BJP, too, will transfer its nine surplus votes to Kartikeya. He is also likely to get the votes of MLAs Abhay Chautala and Gopal Kanda.
This takes his vote count to 21. He needs the support of all seven Independents and at least three Congress MLAs to crossvote in his favour. Sources said the resourceful media family has been able to win over five of the seven Independents. Two Independents have reportedly decided to vote for Congress’ Ajay Maken. The numbers as they stand in the evening before votes indicate that Maken could sail through with 33 votes, while Kartikeya’s campaign would end with 26, five short of the magic figure.
The Congress has flown its flock of MLAs to a lake resort in Raipur to protect them from poaching. The party’s plan seems to have worked as its MLAs appeared united in supporting official candidates. Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who has been upset with the party leadership, met Rahul Gandhi and decided to vote for Maken. Odds are also stacked against the other media baron, Subhash Chandra, trying his luck from Rajasthan. Chandra is contesting as a BJP-backed Independent.
To win, he needs 41 votes. The BJP has 71 MLAs. With 41 voting for the party candidate, the BJP will be left with 30 MLAs, who will support Chandra. The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party of Hanuman Beniwal, which has three MLAs, has also pledged its support for Chandra. But he is still eight votes away from the winning number. The Congress has 108 MLAs and is set to win two seats. It requires the support of Independents and legislators of other parties to win the third seat.
Sources said the Congress had managed to marshal support of 126 MLAs as against 123 required to win three seats. Besides, it has managed to win over 13 Independent MLAs, two members each of CPI(M) and Bhartiya Tribal Party and one from the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
In Maharashtra, six candidates are to be elected from a field of seven. Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Pawar and the BJP’s Dhananjay Mahadik are locked in a tough contest for the sixth seat. A candidate needs 42 votes to win a seat. The MVA has the numbers to win three. The BJP has 106 MLAs. It can win two on its own but has fielded a third candidate. Twenty-nine MLAs, including Independents and members of smaller parties, hold the key to the elections of the sixth candidate.
Bail pleas of Malik, Deshmukh rejected
In Maharashtra, a local court rejected bail pleas of two MLAs, Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh. They had sought bail to cast votes in the RS polls. They are likely to appeal in a higher court.