Rajya Sabha deputy chairman election: Can united Opposition win this battle?
Ahead of the monsoon session of the Parliament, the government and the Opposition are set for yet another confrontation, with battle lines drawn over the election of the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
The election to the post will be held after 26 years — the last one was in 1992.
Test of Opposition unity
Having burnt its fingers during the election for the Vice President of India — when Janta Dal (United) pulled out of the Opposition camp to side with the NDA — the Congress is now ready to bend over backwards for a consensus candidate from the Opposition.
"We will decide on who contests for the post only after a consensus within the Opposition parties is arrived at. A meeting of all Opposition parties will be called in the first week of July," said a senior congress leader, not willing to be named.
Didi gets going, reaches out to Opposition leaders
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has been quick to throw her party's hat in the ring. With TMC being the fourth largest party with 13 members in the Upper House, the firebrand leader has sensed an opportunity to bag the prestigious post. For a Congress candidate, the resistance comes from regional parties — Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS), Telugu Desam Party (TDP) the AAP and the Biju Janta Dal (BJD) — whose aversion to the Congress is no secret. They would, however, support a TMC candidate.
Keeping its distance from the recent tussle between the AAP and the LG in Delhi hasn't helped the Congress' ambition of playing the lead role in cobbling up a Opposition alliance for the General Elections. Now, sources indicate that the Congress is likely to support a TMC candidate. This could be a well thought-out political move, considering the Congress would want a strong Opposition to effectively take on the mighty BJP in 2019. The NCP is also willing to put its weight behind Mamata. Needless to say, her good equation with Sharad Pawar has helped.
BJD dark horse
However, the BJD, with 9 members in the Rajya sabha, is the dark horse that could switch either way and tilt the balance. Party chief Naveen Patnaik has followed the policy of maintaining equal distance from both the BJP and the Congress. Mamata is trying to woo the BJD, but the latter is skeptical about its own possible candidate, Prasanna Acharya, who might not reach the finish line.
The BJD is watching the game as it keeps its options open.
Though a decision is yet to be taken, a senior leader of the party said they could support a non-political nominated member. "We are willing to support a nominated candidate for the post, but no call has been taken yet," he said.
A party would require 122 votes to win the election, with a total of 245 members in the House.
At present, the BJP has 67 members, and the Congress 51
TMC leader Sukhendu Sekar Roy's name doing the rounds
The TMC has already floated the name of party leader Sukhendu Sekhar Roy to test political waters. However, officially, the party has maintained that there has been "No decision on the Opposition's candidate yet. We have not put up any name. The united Opposition will come up with a name," RS member and TMC leader Derek O Brien has said.
The post of the deputy chairman will be vacated by PJ Kurien in the end of June. The election for the post will be held during the monsoon session, scheduled to begin from July 18.
With the ruling BJP likely to fight hard — it would want its own man at the crucial post with only one year left for General Elections — the battle is going to heat up.