RS Deputy Chairperson Election: BJP, Cong Rush To BJD For Support

Bhubaneswar: With the BJP-led NDA candidate JD(U) leader Harivansh Narayan Singh and the Congress-led joint opposition candidate of senior Congress leader and former Odisha in-charge BK Hariprasad all set to fight for the election to the post of deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha scheduled on Thursday, the two rival candidates have sought the support of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), aware that the regional party is going to decide their fate.

Going by the present strength in the Rajya Sabha, out of a total of 245 members, there are 244 members in the upper house with one vacant seat. While the BJP-led NDA has 90 members, the Congress-led joint opposition has 112 members. Since no party has a majority in the upper house, efforts are on by the NDA and the joint opposition to rope in regional parties to get the magic number 123 to ensure victory of their candidates.

While the JD-U president and the Bihar chief minister had requested BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday seeking his support to Chauhan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with him on Wednesday afternoon seeking the support of his party to the NDA candidate.

Earlier in the day, Chauhan had met the BJD MPs at their office in the Parliament on Wednesday and sought their support in the election. Though it was not immediately known as to what had transpired in the meeting, reliable BJD sources said that the party is most likely to support the NDA candidate.

Expressing gratitude to the NDA leaders for nominating him as a candidate, Chauhan said he will make all efforts for the smooth conduct of the proceedings in the upper house and maintain its status and tradition.

Talking to mediapersons in New Delhi, Hariprasad said he has been unanimously nominated by the united opposition parties as a candidate. Asked whether he will win the election, the former Odisha incharge expressed confidence of victory.

Sources in the party circles said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar in a telephonic chat with the BJD supremo on Tuesday had requested him to support his party candidate Vandana Chavan as the candidate on behalf of the united opposition. However, he backtracked from Chavan’s candidature after it emerged that the BJD is not willing to support her.

Following the development, the united opposition later announced Hariprasad’s name as its candidate.