The BJP is trying to implement a fresh strategy of fielding local faces as against the older practice of fielding any candidate from any state in the Rajya Sabha elections, sources said.
The Election Commission has announced the date of Rajya Sabha elections in 15 states which will be held on 56 seats, including three in Rajasthan. Voting for these Rajya Sabha seats will be held on February 27.
It needs to be mentioned here that there are ten Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan, out of which six are with Congress and four with BJP.
Voting will be held on the three seats represented by former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav and present minister in Bhajan Lal government, Kirori Lal Meena from Rajasthan. The tenure of these three Rajya Sabha seats ends on April 3. Kirori Lal Meena had won from Sawai Madhopur during the Rajasthan Assembly elections. After becoming MLA, he resigned from the post of Rajya Sabha MP. Hence, voting will be held on this seat too.
From the Congress-held six seats only one MP is from Rajasthan while five are from other states. While Neeraj Dangi is from Rajasthan, other MPs including former PM Manmohan Singh, Pramod Kumar, Mukul Vasnik, K.C. Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala are all outsiders but continue to be Rajya Sabha MPs from Rajasthan.
Sources said that top leadership is discussing fielding candidates from the same state for the Rajya Sabha polls. The policy of fielding some leaders from one state in another state’s Rajya Sabha polls won’t be followed if all leaders give their consent on this proposal, said sources.
Top leaders in the state have been indicated about this and discussions are on to decide which candidate will be fielded from which seat.
Party sources said that former leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore and deputy leader of opposition Satish Poonia, who lost the Assembly polls might be given a chance in these polls. Also, veteran leader Alka Gurjar and Om Mathur can also be sent to Delhi via these polls. However, discussions are in this context.
Fielding of outsider candidates on local seats has been a debatable subject since the last many years. It is being said that the outsiders who go to Rajya Sabha polls lack the knowledge of issues of these states and hence fail expectations of local public in the long run and hence the change in strategy, said party leaders.
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