Suspense continues over the Congress’ RS candidate in Rajasthan

Jaipur: The Congress has still not indicated any name as its Rajya Sabha candidate in Rajasthan

The state will hold the RS polls for three seats as Kirodi Lal Meena, now a MLA and state minister, has resigned from the Rajya Sabha after winning the assembly polls. Similarly, the term of two RS MPs, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sitting Union minister Bhupendra Yadav, will end on April 3, 2024.

As the BJP won 115 seats and the Congress won 70 in the Assembly polls, the former is set to win 2 RS seats while the latter has one seat.

As one seat is assured for the Congress in Rajasthan, there are whispers that Sonia Gandhi might be fielded from the state for the RS polls. However, other party workers told IANS that a party loyalist like Ajay Maken can also be given a chance for he has been connected with the state as the state in-charge earlier.

Meanwhile, with former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot being unwell and in hospital, party workers are subdued.

“We too are clueless on who shall be fielded from Rajasthan. However, veteran leaders have confirmed that Sonia Gandhi has been offered seats in Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. Now, it depends on her which seat she selects. As such, our party has strong strength in the South so if she goes from Telangana, the bond will become stronger. Similarly, in Himachal, we have our government. However, it is safer to contest from Rajasthan compared to Himachal Pradesh as the latter has a much smaller Assembly, hence there is a threat of cross-voting spoiling the party's plans.

"In such a situation, Rajasthan sounds safe but the current BJP government can play spoilsport. The RLD was in alliance with the Congress in Rajasthan but now the equations have changed. These game changing equations can pose a threat to her candidature. Earlier too, the BJP had fielded two candidates for the RS polls in 2022 when it was sure that it will be winning only one seat and the Congress had termed it a spoilsport," said a party worker.

So to avoid such a situation, Sonia Gandhi might be fielded from Telangana where there is a clear cut parity and no confusion. However, things are still not clear and we too are waiting for an official announcement, said the party worker.

Party sources said that as of now, no formal meeting has taken place to finalise nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections, which are scheduled to be held on February 27, and the last date for nomination is February 15. We too are waiting If the party will go for local faces in the southern states or if it fields national leaders from Rajasthan, said party workers.