Nitin Nabin, Mithun Chakraborty, Pawan Singh, K Annamalai in the reckoning
RS biennial polls for 37 seats on March 16
Harish Gupta
The BJP high command is likely to meet soon to field around 16 candidates for the 37 Rajya Sabha seats that will go to the polls on March 16 while its allies will contest another six. The prominent names under consideration are of party president Nitin Nabin from Bihar though there is some ambiguity over him. It is said that former BJP national presidents Amit Shah and Nitin Gadkari had continued as MLAs for a considerable period after becoming party chief.
The BJP is set to win two seats in Bihar out of 5 and JD(U) will win remaining two while one seat MGB may win with the help of AIMIM. But this is an open seat for now. A Bhoj puri singer Pawan singh is another name doing the rounds. He met the high command recently in Delhi. Former MP Rama Devi, Nand Kishore Yadav, Rakesh Tiwari, and Rituraj Sinha are also in the reckoning.
Some of the prominent names emerging are of former BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai and BJP general secretary Vinod Tawade. Actor-politician Mithun Chakraborty, Manmohan Samal, BJP state president Odisha, instrumental in the party's win in the assembly polls and Abhinandan Panda, son of a veteran BJP leader Basant Panda are being considered from Odisha.
Former Congress leader Kiran Chaudhary, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party two years ago, is hoping to get another term but there are murmurs that the party could instead pick a Jat leader for the upcoming vacancy in Haryana.
The BJP will gain at least five Rajya Sabha seats out of 37 seats. The BJP's 9 MPs are retiring (Maharashtra 2), Odisha (2), Assam (2) Haryana (2), Himachal (1) among the 37 MPs elections for which are being held.
