The Congress is finding it tough to accommodate defeated senior leaders in the Rajya Sabha as it does not have the numerical strength in various assemblies to win the seats.
Rediff.com contributor Renu Mittal reports
In a curious turn of events, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has dropped senior leader Kapil Sibal and instead selected veteran P L Punia as the party’s nominee for the Rajya Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh.
Sibal’s nomination for the Upper House of Parliament was being backed by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Interestingly, the Congress does not have the numbers to win a Rajya Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh on its own and has to rely on the Samajwadi Party to fill up the numbers.
Punia is considered close to Rahul.
Party sources told rediff.com that the Congress vice president has been advised that he should support somebody from the Scheduled Caste category, which he has now done. But by all accounts, in terms of performance and talent, Punia is no match for Sibal in making his presence felt in the Rajya Sabha apart from the legal acumen which the latter commands.
Earlier, Sibal had entered Rajya Sabha from Bihar when he was supported by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav after he had fought his cases successfully.
Sources added that Mulayam had sent across a word that he would be willing to support Sibal, but Rahul, obviously, had other ideas.
Crisis brewing in Uttarakhand
In Uttarakhand, former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna has dug his heels in and wants the Congress ticket for the lone Rajya Sabha seat.
He has made it clear that he is in a position to defeat his own party if anyone else is given the ticket.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded former Congressman Satpal Maharaj, who, given the considerable support he still enjoys even in his earlier affiliation, may try and upset the Congress apple-cart by engineering cross-voting.
A number of senior Congress leaders, including Mukul Wasnik, had their eye on the Uttarakhand seat. But party workers and leaders do not want an outsider to be given the ticket.
For the Congress the space to accommodate defeated senior leaders in the Rajya Sabha is shrinking as the party does not have the numerical strength in various assemblies to win the seats.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram had been waiting in the wings to be accommodated in the Rajya Sabha, but could not get a seat from Karnataka as local sentiment opposed his entry there.
