49 vacancies in RS soon, race for nominations hots up in Cong

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 1

Ahead of the retirement season in the Rajya Sabha that will see 49 vacancies soon, the race for Congress nominations is heating up.

Hectic lobbying is on for the RS berths with 11 Congress MPs retiring from the Upper House between June and July and the party hopeful of retaining only six seats on its own. It has hope of representation from Bihar where the grand alliance of the RJD, JDU and Congress can win four of the five seats falling vacant on July 7.

But with its RS space shrinking due to depleting strength in states, the Congress leadership is now facing tough choices over who to nominate. Among stalwarts waiting to be accommodated are former ministers P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal, both chief troubleshooters for the party. Most of the retiring MPs will hope for fresh terms. A third category of aspirants comprises leaders yet to get an RS term.

If recent nominations are any indication, the third category may have a chance now, with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi stressing the induction of new blood across party levels. In Punjab, Congress chose to nominate Partap Bajwa and SS Dullo to the RS, denying ex-ministers MS Gill and Ashwani Kumar new terms. In Assam, party nominated youngsters Ranee Narah and Ripun Bora, first-timers, to the RS.

The question many are now asking is: Will the trend of fielding new faces continue as old warhorses stick to their stakes? Consider the list of retiring Congress RS members. It features veterans who have spent decades in the RS and more in Parliament if LS terms are counted —Mohsina Kidwai (two-term RS member and three-term LS member); Oscar Fernandes (three-term RS member and five-time LS member), Ambika Soni (four-term RS member), Satish Sharma (three terms each in the RS and the LS), Jairam Ramesh (two-term RS member), EMS Natchiappan (two terms in the RS and one in the LS), Hanumantha Rao (three terms in the RS), JD Seelam and Dheeraj Sahu (two RS terms each), Vijaylakshmi Sadho and Ashk Ali Tak (one RS term each).

Between them the average age of retiring Congress MPs is 67 years with Kidwai (84) heading the list. With the Congress withering in states, a section feels the party should give a chance to leaders who have never had an RS term.

“While the presence of our tallest leaders former PM Manmohan Singh, Congress chief’s political secretary Ahmad Patel and former Defence Minister AK Antony is required in the Rajya Sabha, some MPs can be rested to reward leaders who have been slogging out unsung,” a Congress leader says, hoping for the Punjab and Assam trend to continue.

As for impending vacancies, Jairam and Seelam can’t return from Andhra as the Congress won’t win any of the four RS seats falling vacant on June 21.

States where the Congress has hopes of winning back some RS seats are Chhattisgarh (one out of two vacancies; sitting RS member is Mohsina Kidwai); Madhya Pradesh (one out of three vacancies; sitting MP Sadho); Punjab (one out of two vacancies; sitting MP Ambika Soni); Karnataka (two out of four seats; sitting MP Oscar); and Uttarakhand (one seat). In UP, out of 11 vacancies arising on July 4, the party hopes to win one with RLD support. Here its sitting RS member is Satish Sharma, a friend of the Gandhis, who may be hoping for another term.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that many Congress hopefuls are trying to enter the RS from Karnataka even as some leaders question the sagacity of nominating leaders from states other than their own. “Whenever an outsider enters the RS from a state, he does so at the cost of a local leader. This was not an issue when the party had ample number of RS seats, but now the policy should be revisited,” says a Congress man.