BHOPAL: Two senior organisational leaders of the ruling BJP filed nominations for the June 18 Rajya Sabha biennial elections from Madhya Pradesh on Saturday.
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh and state secretary Rajneesh Agrawal filed their nomination papers at the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. Meanwhile, former Mandsaur MP and the Congress candidate for the third Rajya Sabha seat, Meenakshi Natrajan, reached the state Congress headquarters in Bhopal in the evening to attend a meeting of party legislators. She is likely to file her nomination on Sunday.
While the BJP is comfortably placed to win two seats, the Congress is also expected to secure the third seat based on the current strength of the two parties in the Assembly.
However, the BJP has not yet ruled out the possibility of fielding a third candidate for the June 18 elections. If it does so, or backs an independent candidate, the Congress’s prospects on the third seat could be affected, particularly in the event of cross-voting by its MLAs.
The possibility of the BJP fielding a third candidate before nominations close on June 8 has gained traction following statements by senior BJP leaders, including cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and former minister Bhupendra Singh.
“Still two days are left for filing nominations, if the party gives green signal for the third seat, then we will ensure that the third seat too is bagged by the BJP only,” said Vijayvargiya, who was earlier considered among the frontrunners for a BJP nomination.
Bhupendra Singh, considered a close confidant of former chief minister and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, echoed similar sentiments.
“Many leaders in the Congress are not happy with their party’s candidate chosen for the June 18 elections. Many Congress leaders also want to quit the party, if our party even decides at the last moment to field a third candidate, we will ensure that our third candidate also emerges as the winner,” Singh said.
About three kilometres away, senior Congress leaders welcomed Natrajan at the state party headquarters.
Expressing confidence about her prospects, state Congress president and Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar said all Congress MLAs were united behind the party’s official candidate.
“Let the BJP make speculation and field their third candidate, but our MLAs will unite to ensure our candidate’s win,” Singhar said.
In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, each Rajya Sabha candidate requires 58 votes to win. With 164 MLAs, the BJP is comfortably placed to secure both its official candidates. The Congress, which technically has 61 MLAs, has a margin of just three votes.
If the BJP fields a third candidate or backs an influential independent, it would require nine to ten Congress MLAs to either cross-vote or abstain on June 18 to secure the third seat.
Speculation over a possible third BJP candidate has been fuelled not only by statements from party leaders but also by perceptions within the BJP that some Congress MLAs loyal to senior leaders such as Kamal Nath and Arun Yadav — both of whom were in contention for a Rajya Sabha nomination — could affect the prospects of the party’s official candidate.
Rejecting such suggestions, state Congress chief Jitu Patwari said the party remained united.
“Entire Congress party is united, the meeting on Saturday evening for the RS poll was also attended through online mode by senior leaders, including Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh and Vivek Tankha, who have declared that they will ensure Meenakshi Natrajan’s win,” Patwari said.
