By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Nominations filed by two media barons — Subhash Chandra of Zee from Rajasthan and Kartikeya Sharma of NewsX from Haryana — for the Rajya Sabha elections as independent candidates could spell trouble for the Congress in seats in Rajasthan and Haryana.
The independents filed their candidature on Tuesday, the last day for filing nominations.
Sources said that things could tilt in favour of the duo keeping in mind the disquiet in the Rajasthan state unit over the nomination of candidates from outside, and in Haryana, where an upset party MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi has been meeting BJP leaders.
The Congress was expecting to win 10 seats in all but now it could end up losing a seat in Haryana if cross-voting happens and another in Rajasthan if the independents decide to vote for Subhash Chandra with the support of BJP MLAs.
The seat in Rajasthan is where Congress has fielded Pramod Tiwari and it will now see a contest with Chandra’s entry. Tiwari’s candidature was backed by general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
In all, the elections are on for four seats in Rajasthan. The state assembly has 200 seats and a winning candidate will require 41 votes.
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The Congress claims that it will manage 123 votes (needed to win three seats) while the BJP, having 71 MLAs, can win only one seat. The BJP needs 11 more votes to win a second seat which it is now angling for with Chandra’s arrival to the fray.
The Congress has the support of 108 MLAs, including six BSP MLAs who merged with the Congress, 13 independents (many Gehlot supporters), two MLAs of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and one from the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
There are two MLAs from the Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) and three MLAs from Hanuman Beniwal’s Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP). Both are unlikely to vote for the BJP.
“With independents in the fray, things can sway to any side. It is a calculated move by the BJP keeping in mind trouble in the state unit. After winning one seat (41 MLAs), another 30 BJP MLAs will be spared and Chandra would need 11 more to win the seat. He may get the support of independents and BTP and RLP’s support to make things difficult for the Congress’ plans to win a third seat,” said party sources.
