With the elections for the post of Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha on August 9, the Centre and the Opposition have announced their candidates.
BJP is the single-largest party in the Upper House but does not have a majority. The Congress also need the support of other parties apart from its allies to win. The regional parties like TRS, TDP, BJD and YSR Congress can play a significant role in the polls tomorrow.
NDA has announced Janata Dal(United)‘s first-time parliamentarian Harivansh Narayan Singh as its candidate. Whereas Congress’ Karnataka MP BK Hariprasad is the nominee of the Opposition.
After BJD chief Naveen Patnaik refused to support NCP lawmaker Vandana Chavan, Congress fielded its own candidate for the Deputy Chairperson post.
According to sources, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar reached out to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao and Biju Janata Dal(BJD) President Naveen Patnaik for their support of Harivansh Narayan Singh for the post.
The current strength of the Rajya Sabha is 244 and the majority required to win is 123.
NDA candidate is likely to get the support of AIADMK which has 13 members and TRS which has six members in the Upper House. On Tuesday, YSR Congress decided to vote against the NDA candidate, reported FirstPost.
BJP ally Shiv Sena which has always been critical of BJP has yet to reveal its cards. Another ally of BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) which was earlier upset with the nomination of JD(U) candidate, has finally acquiesced with the choice.
The game now depends on the support of BJD which has nine members in the house, whether it supports the candidate of ruling NDA or the Opposition or if it will abstain from voting, will change the dynamics of the elections.