The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday night fielded a third candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, setting up a direct contest with the Congress for the third seat amid heightened political manoeuvring ahead of the June 18 polls.
The BJP nominated Mahesh Kevat, recently appointed chairman of the Fishermen’s Welfare Board, against Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan. The move came amid visible discontent within the Congress following the announcement of Natarajan’s candidature.
Chief minister Mohan Yadav held meetings with BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal and senior party leaders on Sunday before finalising Kevat’s name.
In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly, a Rajya Sabha candidate requires 58 votes to secure victory. The BJP, which has 166 MLAs and the support of defected Congress MLA Nirmala Sapre from Bina, is comfortably placed to win two seats. However, the party would require the backing of seven additional MLAs to secure the third seat.
The Congress, meanwhile, currently has 61 MLAs after Vijaypur MLA Mukesh Malhotra lost his voting rights and Datia MLA Rajendra Bharti was disqualified following a fraud conviction. The party also has the support of Bharatiya Adivasi Party MLA Kamleshwar Dodiyar from Ratlam.
Congress leaders, however, asserted that the party remained united and confident of victory. At a meeting of Congress MLAs on Sunday, former chief minister Kamal Nath, Jaivardhan Singh, Veer Singh Bhuria and Yogendra Singh were absent physically but joined virtually.
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari, leader of opposition Umang Singhar and Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan addressed a joint press conference after the meeting.
“The Congress is united and will win the election. This time BJP won’t be able to do dirty politics,” Patwari said.
Amid concerns over possible cross-voting, Congress is considering shifting its MLAs to Telangana ahead of polling day. The BJP, on the other hand, has directed all its MLAs to remain in Bhopal until the election.
Both Kevat and Natarajan are expected to file their nominations on Monday. BJP candidates Tarun Chugh and Rajneesh Agrawal had already filed their nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections on Saturday.
