Manmohan unlikely to get Assam RS berth
NEW DELHI :Former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s 28-yearlong Rajya Sabha tenure is unlikely to get another extension from Assam, the state from where he has been a five-term Member of Parliament since 1991. A senior Congress leader, however, said that the party will be keen to renominate him from Tamil Nadu when elections to the Upper House take place in July.
With the terms of Singh and Santius Kujur ending on June 14, the Election Commission of India announced the biennial election to the Council of States from Assam on Tuesday.
Elections will now be held on June 7. Notification will be issued on May 21, and the last date of nominations is May 28.
The Congress would need at least 43 first preference votes to win a seat from Assam in this biennial election from the 126 member-strong state assembly.
Congress, the principal opposition party in the state, has just 25 MLAS, while another opposition party, Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front, has 13 legislators. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, enjoys 61 members in the House and its allies Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front have 14 and 12 MLAS.
This arithmetic makes it difficult for the Congress to secure an easy win for its candidate.
In July, another six seats will be up for grabs from Tamil Nadu. The Dmk-led Opposition group, in which the Congress is also a partner, has a chance to bag at least two Rajya Sabha berths from the largest southern state.
“A clearer picture will emerge post May 23,” a senior Congress leader told HT, which will determine the party’s strategy for the Rajya Sabha polls.