Himachal Congress sure of win, BJP counting on abstentions

New Delhi, February 20

A contest is on the cards for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal, with elections scheduled to be held on February 27.

Numbers favour Congress

• Congress with 40 MLAs and backing of three Independents is confident of Abhishek Manu Singhvi winning the poll
• BJP with 25 MLAs has fielded Harsh Mahajan. It is eyeing cross-voting or abstentions from Rajya Sabha vote

After the last date for withdrawal of candidates passed on Tuesday, two candidates were left in the fray for the Himachal RS seat poll — Congress’ Abhishek Manu Singhvi and BJP’s Harsh Mahajan. The Congress with 40 MLAs and the support of three Independents in the state Assembly is hoping for Singhvi to sail through.

The BJP with 25 MLAs, on the other hand, is hell bent on exposing “possible divisions” in the Congress ranks with hopes of cross-voting or abstentions from the Rajya Sabha vote.

The Election Commission had on January 29 declared the schedule for the Rajya Sabha elections to 56 seats across 15 states. Elections, wherever needed, will be held on February 27. A contest will also be held in Karnataka and UP, where the BJP has fielded more candidates than the seats available.

In UP where 10 seats are up for grabs, eight candidates are in the fray from the BJP and three from the Samajwadi Party. The eighth BJP candidate in UP— Sanjay Seth — was fielded at the last minute like Harsh Mahajan in Himachal. In Karnataka, four RS seats are to be filled. The BJP and JD(S) have fielded an extra candidate with five in the fray.