Govt holding off RS deputy chairman elections?

The United Progressive Alliance government is planning to put off the elections for selecting the deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha until the monsoon session, a source has said.

The deputy chairman's election was discussed at the Congress leadership with the possibility of supporting a candidate of the Samajwadi Party or All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. 

In that case, there is a possibility that the Congress might be getting prepared for putting the elections off for now, the source said.

The Congress is keen to keep the seat of deputy chairman until RS member P J Kurien, a three-term member of parliament from Kerala,  is re-elected in July or might field Rehman Khan, who is set to retire in May, yet again, the source said.

Issues will only get resolved once the opposition and the ruling party discuss critical issues across the table. Insiders also confidant that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to meet senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley next week. Subsequently, an interaction with regional and smaller parties is also likely.