Lobbying for Rajya Sabha gathers pace

Lobbying for Rajya Sabha seats is expected to gather pace in the week ahead with 58 members, including Union Ministers Arjun Singh, H R Bhardwaj, Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj, set to retire soon and fresh elections scheduled for March 28.

The stage would be set for the elections with the issue of notification on Friday.

A maximum of ten seats in Uttar Pradesh, six each in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra, five each in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, four each in Gujarat and Karnataka, three each in Orissa and Rajasthan, two in Jharkhand and one each in Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal will fall vacant.

Arjun Singh is expected to be re-nominated from the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh where opposition Congress could bring only one member to the Upper House.

Bhardwaj is making attempts to shift to Congress-governed Haryana where there are already some contenders.

Union Minister Praful Patel is expected to be re-nominated by the ruling Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra while former chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde would be one of the two nominees of Congress from the state.

Noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani, whose term is also ending, is keen on a re-entry through the nomination category amid reports that Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is backing his case. 

The BJP is also toying with the idea of bringing an influential media baron from Uttar Pradesh while re-nominating its senior leader from the state Kalraj Mishra.

Former Union minister C K Jaffer Sharief is also trying to get a nomination from Karnataka.

These elections are subject to the ruling of the Supreme Court, which has reserved its order on a PIL filed by noted journalist Kuldip Nayar challenging the constitutional validity of doing away with the domicile clause and secret ballot for the polls.

The last date for filing nominations is March 17. Scrutiny will take place the following day and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is March 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 28.