Smaller allies in NDA, GA seek RS seats to bargain for upcoming MLC polls
PATNA: Even as chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday indicated that nominees for the biennial polls to Rajya Sabha polls would be announced soon, senior constituents in both the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and opposition Grand Alliance (GA) are feeling the heat from junior constituents who are seeking seat allotment in RS and the upcoming Bihar legislative council election from legislative quota.
Talking to the media after JD(U)’s Anil Hedge filed his nomination for one RS seat for the bypoll on May 30, the chief minister said the party would soon announce the candidate for RS biennial polls for five seats to be held on June 10. The notification for five seats to the RS biennial polls would be issued on May 24.
“We will discuss the issue and announce the names,” he said while evading a direct reply on whether the party’s sitting RS MP and Union minister of steel R C P Singh would get a second term. However, the major parties in both the ruling and opposition coalition appear to be facing pressure in the RS biennial polls in seat-sharing due to demands for allotment of seats from their smaller allies.
In the NDA, Hindustani Awami Morcha (Secular) led by former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and the CPI-ML (liberation) in the opposition GA has already made a demand for one RS seat and if not; they should be given priority in the upcoming MLC polls.
“We have put our demand for one RS seat and still sticking to it. But, we have also made our stand clear that HAM(S) should get priority in upcoming MLC polls. In the RS election, there may be certain difficulties as the JD(U) will get only one seat. A final decision has to be taken by our party chief,” said HAM(S) spokesperson Danish Rizwan.
Manjhi himself had made a statement a few days back stating that he had demanded the chief minister for one RS seat and if not, the party be given priority in MLC polls. On Manjhi’s demand, the chief minister had said on Wednesday that ‘ everybody has a right to make a demand”, dropping ample hints that HAM(S) keenness for an RS seat would not be met this time.
Similarly, in the opposition GA, CPI-ML (liberation) politburo member Dhirendra Jha expressed that the party has a rightful claim on one RS seat but if it’s not fulfilled, the party should get priority by being allotted one seat in the MLC biennial polls. “ML had supported the RJD in the recently concluded MLCs from local area constituencies on the promise that it would get preference in RS and MLC polls. We have taken a stand that if ML could not be accommodated in the RS election, it should get priority in MLC polls. We are hopeful of getting due consideration,” Jha said.
Political observers said that smaller allies in both the NDA and GA have become vocal in raising their demand for RS seats and MLC seats realising how they have been ignored by not being accommodated in RS and MLC vacancies by their senior partners in the past.
“HAM and ML are demanding a share in RS seats as a strategy of pressure politics to get some seats in the MLC polls and assert their own identity,” said, Rakesh Tiwary, a political observer and social scientist . Seven seats in the Bihar legislative Council will fall vacant in July for which election is yet to be announced.
While BJP is expected to contest in two seats and JD(U) one, the RJD is also expected to contest in two seats in the biennial polls for five seats in Rajya Sabha. Reacting to ML’s demand for an RS seat, RJD state spokesperson said these are issues within the grand alliance and will be sorted out amicably.
Incidentally, Congress continues to maintain a distance from the RJD-led Grand Alliance and has made no demand for RS seat from the Lalu Prasad-led outfit ostensibly for its differences with its’s long-time regional ally during Tarapur and Kushweswar Asthan by-poll last year. “We have not made any demand from the RJD for any RS seat,” said Harku Jha, a senior leader of the Congress and state spokesperson.