NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Dilip, Jethmalani, Arjun among 23 elected to the Rajya Sabha

Twenty-three candidates from five states were declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha today, the last date for withdrawal of nominations for the biennial election to the Upper House of Parliament.

Most surprising was the withdrawal of independent candidate Jawaharlal Goyal from Maharashtra. This led to the unopposed election of six candidates supported by various political parties, including Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani and thespian Dilip Kumar.

Six candidates each were also elected from Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, four from Gujarat, and one from Haryana.

The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies won 13 seats in the Upper House while the rest went to the Congress and its allies.

The party-wise breakup was: Congress 8, BJP 6, Telugu Desam Party 4, Shiv Sena 1, Indian National Lok Dal 1, Nationalist Congress Party 1, Republican Party of India 1, and Jethmalani, who was in the fray as an independent with support from the BJP and the Shiv Sena.

In all, elections to 58 seats in 12 states were notified on March 7. The elections for 11 vacancies in Uttar Pradesh, eight in Bihar, six in Andhra Pradesh, five in West Bengal, four in Karnataka, three each in Orissa and Rajasthan, and one in Himachal Pradesh will be held on March 29.

Among the notables elected today were Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley from Gujarat and former Union minister Arjun Singh from Madhya Pradesh. Singh is reportedly among the favourites to take over as leader of the Opposition in the Upper House when the term of Dr Manmohan Singh expires later this year.

Others elected today were: Madhya Pradesh -- Hansraj Bharadwaj, Prafulla Maheshwari, Bhagatram Manhar, Vikram Verma and Kailash Joshi; Maharashtra -- Bal Apte, R S Gavai, Praful Patel and Sanjay Nirupam; Andhra Pradesh -- Dasari Narayan Rao, K M Khan, Alladi Raj Kumar, S Ramamuni Reddy, Vanga Geetha and K Ram Mohana; Gujarat -- A K Patel, Lekhraj Bachani and Raju Parmar; Haryana -- Faqir Chand.

Usually a staid affair in which only members of the provincial legislatures take part, the biennial elections have become interesting in states like Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Sixteen candidates are in the fray for the 11 seats in the Hindi-heartland state while a liquor baron has added some fizz down South.

Among the candidates in Uttar Pradesh are Union Minister Rajnath Singh, former Delhi chief minister Sushma Swaraj (both BJP) and TV anchor Rajiv Shukla (Loktantrik Congress Party). In Karnataka, five candidates are in the fray, including flamboyant businessman Vijay Mallya and former Union minister M Rajashekhara Murthy.

Orissa will witness a contest between the Biju Janata Dal-BJP alliance and the front led by the Congress and the Left parties. The BJP has fielded its state unit president, Manmohan Samal, while the BJD has put up senior party politician Biravadra Singh and industrialist Baijanta Panda. The Congress-led front is backing independent Radhakanta Nayak.

The election today of Faqir Chand from Haryana ensured two seats to the INLD among the elders -- the other being the veteran former deputy prime minister Devi Lal. Consequently, the number of Congress members from the state in the Upper House has been reduced from three to two.

In the 200-member Rajasthan assembly, four candidates, including an independent, are left in the fray. The Congress has 155 members in the assembly while the BJP has 30.

In Uttar Pradesh, the candidates in the fray are five from the ruling BJP, three from the Samajwadi Party, two from the Bahujan Samaj Party, and one each from the LCP, an ally of the BJP, Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Congress, besides three independents.

UNI

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report