The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hopeful of increasing its tally in the Rajya Sabha, following the March 26 election to fill as many as 55 vacancies, and is keeping its cards close to its chest over the list of party nominees who will make it to the Upper House.
While parties such as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) have announced their candidates for the election, the Congress is also abuzz with speculation about likely candidates; however, in the BJP there is very little that the party functionaries aware of details are giving out.
Party sources said the process of selecting probable names to represent various states in the Upper House has begun and the list of candidates will be announced shortly.
“There are some names being discussed by the state units in consultation with the central leaders; in a day or two these will be finalised,” said a party general secretary.
The BJP, which managed to pass crucial bills in the Rajya Sabha such as the ban on triple talaq and the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir despite not being the single largest party in the House, is expecting to add at least 12 seats to its tally. Currently, the BJP has 82 members, but the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has 97 seats, which is way short of the halfway mark in the house of 245.
Of the total vacancies, 18 are from the BJP’s tally. Though the electoral reverses it faced in state assembly polls such as Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh will impact its position in the Rajya Sabha, the BJP is hopeful of adding one seat each from Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, and two from Maharashtra.
A party functionary said there could be a contest for at least three seats in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand; while the BJP is confident of getting two of the four seats in Gujarat, three in Assam, and one each from Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
As per the list of upcoming retirements put out by the Rajya Sabha, there will be seven vacancies from Maharashtra, six from Tamil Nadu, five each from Bihar and West Bengal, four each from Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three each from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telengana and Odisha, two each from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh and one each from Assam, Manipur, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
