Rajya Sabha Rumble
The TMC has come out with its Rajya Sabha list—disappointing some, but now the focus is on the other parties. There is immense speculation and lobbying within the Congress, especially since the grand old party has many legacy claimants. It does seem that the party’s ace communicator Pawan Khera will be (finally) accommodated in the Upper House, for his daily press briefings have been setting the agenda for the Opposition quite successfully. However, the feisty Supriya Shrinate, whose name also did the rounds, may have to wait her turn as there are many other claimants, especially from Camp RaGa. These include Meenakshi Natrajan, Jitendra Singh Alwar, Praveen Chakravaty and Sachin Rao. It seems of these names, at least two will be accommodated. In fact, during the talks with DMK, the Congress asked for not one but two seats from the state, apparently one for Khera and one for Natrajan. The DMK refused to accommodate “outsiders”. It seems as if Natrajan may be fielded from Madhya Pradesh which is her home state, though former Chief Minister Kamal Nath has also put in his bid for the seat. As for the lone seat from Rajasthan, this may go to Alwar but the sitting MP whose term is finishing is a Dalit so the Congress may want to field another Dalit from the same. The lone seat from Himachal is being contested between Pratibha Singh, PCC chief and the widow of former CM Virbhadra Singh, as well as Anand Sharma. But the most talked about seat is that of Maharashtra. The Maha Vikas Aghadi has one seat between all the allies. The NCP’s Sharad Pawar is looking for a renomination, but his party has the least number of seats. Uddhav Thackeray’s party has the maximum number of MLAs and he reportedly wants to field someone from his own party. The Congress is torn between Supriya Sule’s plea to renominate her father and speculation that Pawar was looking to merge his party with the Ajit Pawar/Sunetra Pawar faction. This will be an interesting seat to watch. Apart from this, the lone Chhattisgarh seat has many contenders from the state, leading with T.S. Singhdeo and Bhupesh Baghel. As for the BJP, not much is known and no one really wants to open their cards since it is the Big Two who will take the ultimate decision. the only thing known is that the new BJP president Nitin Nabin will be nominated to the Upper House.
What is PK Doing in Tamil Nadu?
There has been some buzz about Prashant Kishor’s role in Tamil Nadu for he has assumed the role of Special Advisor to the TVK. He was also present at the dais during TVK’s first anniversary celebrations, along with the party’s leader, actor-turned-politician Vijay. It seems as if PK is advising TVK to tie up with either the Congress or even AIADMK. He has apparently suggested a power sharing rotational CM-ship to EPS. While the Congress is still to decide which way it will swing, PK’s name has come up in another context as well. For TVK’s detractors claim that Vijay will go the PK way—get a lot of hype and headlines before the polls but not much luck at the ballot box.
The Message from Stalin
The DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is not an easy man to ruffle but the Congress seems to have done a decisive job with its determined flirtation with TVK. The Congress demand for power sharing has not done well either, with Stalin himself publicly repudiating this. Despite this, sundry Congress leaders have reiterated the claim for a power share, leading Stalin to send a stern message to the Congress leadership—how will they like it if the DMK MPs contradict Rahul Gandhi in Parliament? Clearly, the choice before the Congress is a tough one—should it focus on building its party in the state or sacrifice for the sake of keeping the I.N.D.I.A bloc together. For if the Congress allies with the TVK and takes on the DMK at the state level then the situation could descend to one as acrimonious as the one between the AAP and the Congress in Delhi. Or the one between Mamata Banerjee and the Congress, for the TMC does not support every stand taken by Rahul Gandhi in Parliament.
