Opposition picked Vandana Chavan for Dy post in Rajya Sabha
NEW DELHI : The opposition has picked Vandana Chavan, a 57-year-old member of Sharad Pawar’s party for the post of Rajya Sabha Deputy Speaker.
Hectic meetings are being held and phones are being worked since morning by both NDA and the opposition ahead of Thursday’s election.
The government, which is fielding Harivansh Narayan Singh, a party man of ally Nitish Kumar, is trying to bring disgruntled allies like the Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena on board. Sources in the BJP said both parties will stand by the government. But insiders in the parties say they are yet to decide between voting and abstention. Naveen Patnaik’s BJD is undecided as well, sources said.
Opposition candidate Vandana Chavan, lawmaker from NCP , is a former Mayor of Pune. There are indications that the Shiv Sena might support her candidature. At a parliamentary party meeting this morning, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Rajnath Singh and party chief Amit Shah, the BJP discussed the election said both Akalis and the Shiv Sena will support the government. The government is also counting on the support of the AIADMK and K Chandrashekar Rao’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which will give it 125 votes.
To win in the 245-member house, a candidate needs 123 votes, but any abstention will bring down the majority mark. If the Akalis (3 seats), Sena (3 seats) and Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (9 seats) abstain, the NDA numbers will be down to 110, when the majority mark will be 115.
The opposition has 119 seats — including Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress. Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party and Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP also indicated that they will support the opposition candidate. The DMK is also expected to support the opposition.
The government’s choice is Harivansh Narayan Singh, a 62-year-old first-time lawmaker from Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United.
The Akali Dal, longtime partner of the BJP in Punjab, is upset by the sudden switch in candidate for the Rajya Sabha post. For a long time, their partyman Naresh Gujral was said to the front runner for the race. After the BJP switched to Janata Dal United’s Harivansh Narayan Singh at the last moment, the dismayed Akalis are considering the option of abstention. A decision will be taken today.ndtv.
