Cong likely to discuss offering NCP the RS dy chairperson’s post

THE ELECTION TO THE POST HAS BEEN NECESSITATED BECAUSE OF CONGRESS LEADER AND RAJYA SABHA DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON KURIEN’S RETIREMENT ON JULY 2

NEWDELHI: The Congress is likely to offer the Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson’s post to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the proposal could be discussed at a strategy meeting of the opposition parties on Monday.

A Congress leader, familiar with the development, said it is important for the party to show “a big heart” and keep all Opposition parties together ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. “We are willing to concede the post to our ally. Besides, the numbers are also not on our side,” he said.

Many regional parties have made it clear to the Congress that while they are willing to come together to oppose the BJP, they would not support a Congress candidate either. The election has been necessitated because of Congress leader and Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson PJ Kurien’s retirement on July 2.

An NCP leader confirmed that the party had been sounded out. “Yes, Congress has informally asked us. But let me emphasise that there is a difference between informal conversations and a formal offer. There is nothing concrete yet,” he said.

He added that NCP could serve as a bridge between the Congress and the rest of the opposition. “The Congress will be more comfortable with us than say with a Trinamool Congress candidate. And the smaller parties will be more comfortable with us than with a Congress candidate,” the NCP leader said on condition of anonymity.

Apart from its chief Sharad Pawar, the other NCP members in the RS are Praful Patel, Majeed Memon and Vandana Chavan.

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