Chandigarh: With the Election Commission of India (ECI) releasing the schedule for the biennial election to the two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana, the main political parties – the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress – have swung into action.The vacancies will be created following the completion of terms by Ram Chander Jangra and former Haryana minister Kiran Choudhary.
While Jangra was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2020, Kiran Choudhary was nominated to the Upper House in 2024 after a vacancy was created following the resignation of now Lok Sabha MP Deepender Hooda, in June 2024.Deepender vacated his Rajya Sabha seat after being elected to Lok Sabha from Rohtak in the 2024 parliamentary elections.Soon after the release of the election programme, the BJP and the Congress leaders started preparations, even as speculations about possible candidates were triggered.Given the strength of their legislators in Haryana assembly, both BJP and Congress can have their candidates elected unopposed. A candidate requires the backing of 31 MLAs for nomination to Rajya Sabha.The BJP is the largest party in Haryana assembly with 48 MLAs, followed by the Congress with 37 MLAs, three independent legislators, and two MLAs from the INLD. Hence, there is likelihood that both BJP and the opposition Congress could bag one seat each.“We have a set procedure of picking the name. Once the high command gives the go-ahead to start the procedure, the state screening committee shall shortlist the probables to be discussed with the core group before forwarding the panel of names to the central election committee (CEC) for the final call,” said a BJP spokesperson.AICC secretary Jitender Baghel, party co-incharge for Haryana, and HPCC president Rao Narender also maintained that they shall wait for the advisory from the high command to initiate the process.“High command is closely monitoring the situation, and we are sure to have a strong candidate and are expecting the election to one seat. Rest, we shall wait and watch,” said Jitender Baghel. “We have HPCC, we have the CLP leader here, they will sit together to work on this,” he added.Notably, the Congress has many aspirants for the seat. Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are the safe bets for the party to field any candidate from among the AICC leaders. B K Hariparsad, the AICC general secretary and in charge for Haryana, is being considered as a possible choice for the party from Haryana.MSID:: 128510910 413 |
