scorecardresearch
Friday, Mar 29, 2024
Advertisement
Premium

Rajya Sabha Polls: Heartburn in Congress; party straying from Udaipur resolve, say leaders

On Sunday, the Congress announced its 10 candidates from seven states, renominating loyalists and MPs P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh, and denying berths to G23 leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma.

P Chidambaram after filing his nomination for Rajya Sabha elections, at Tamil Nadu Secretariat in Chennai, Monday. (PTI)P Chidambaram after filing his nomination for Rajya Sabha elections, at Tamil Nadu Secretariat in Chennai, Monday. (PTI)

The Congress’s list of 10 Rajya Sabha nominees released on Sunday has, as expected, led to heartburn among a section of party leaders with questions being asked about whether the leadership has already strayed from the spirit of the Udaipur declaration made two weeks ago.

On Sunday, the Congress announced its 10 candidates from seven states, renominating loyalists and MPs P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh, and denying berths to G23 leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma. The party also brought in leaders from other states to contest from Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Haryana. The omissions and commissions on the list have triggered another round of intense speculation, especially on the way forward for those who haven’t made it.

🚨 Limited Time Offer | Express Premium with ad-lite for just Rs 2/ day 👉🏽 Click here to subscribe 🚨

Advertisement

Those in the establishment say that the party, with its limited number of Rajya Sabha berths, cannot keep everyone happy while those who are unhappy argue that the spirit of the Udaipur declaration has been violated.

The high point of the Udaipur declaration was the decision to enforce the ‘one family, one ticket’ rule. But the rule came with a rider that in the case of a family that’s politically active in the Congress, a second member will be considered for an election ticket only after five years of organisational experience. It was this rider that the party invoked when it fielded P Chidambaram (his son Karti is a Lok Sabha MP) and Uttar Pradesh leader Pramod Tewari (his daughter Aradhana Misra is one of the two Congress MLAs in UP).

Festive offer

“All the high-sounding principles of Udaipur were thrown to the wolves. The only principle that matters in the Congress is that you show me the man, I will show you the rule,” said a senior Congress leader. “There may be no violation in letter but the spirit has been denigrated,” another leader said.

While G23 leaders Azad and Anand Sharma are upset, they are holding their horses for now. Sources said Congress president Sonia Gandhi had personally conveyed to them that they will not be considered for Rajya Sabha. Both were recently included into the toothless ‘political affairs group’, the setting up of which Sonia had announced in Udaipur with a rider that it will not be a “collective decision-making body” – something the G23 leaders have been demanding.

Questions are also being raised about the age factor.

Advertisement

“Denying nominations to Azad and Sharma is perhaps a prudent decision but what about Chidambaram? He is 76. The stress at Udaipur was on bringing more youngsters and fresh faces into leadership roles,” a leader said.

A Congress leader who is considered close to the Gandhis countered: “Imran Pratapgarhi is in his early 30s. Ranjeet Ranjan is 48. Maken and Surjewala are in their 50s. So there is an attempt to balance,” the leader said.

Manish Tewari, another G23 leader, said Rajya Sabha has become a political parking lot for all parties and argued that the time has come to ask the question: “why does India need a second Federal Chamber”?

“Can Indian Democracy not function without it? The Federal First chamber, the Lok Sabha, should confine in existence till a new Lok Sabha is constituted so that Parliament becomes an institution in continuum,” Tewari told The Indian Express.

Advertisement

But it is the decision to field leaders from other states in party-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where Assembly elections are due next year, that has surprised many.

The party has nominated Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari from Rajasthan, and Rajeev Shukla and Ranjeet Ranjan from Chhattisgarh.

“Ajay Maken, who is from Delhi, has been given the ticket from Haryana and Randeep Surjewala, who is from Haryana, has been accommodated from Rajasthan. Mukul Wasnik, who is from Maharashtra, has been given a ticket from Rajasthan and Imran Pratapgarhi, who is from UP, has been fielded from Maharashtra. He is a non-entity in Maharashtra. The list is a big joke,” one leader said.

First uploaded on: 31-05-2022 at 02:27 IST
Latest Comment
Post Comment
Read Comments
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
close