Published: Sunday, Jun 6, 2010, 17:55 IST | Updated: Monday, Jun 7, 2010, 0:06 IST
By Harish Gupta | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_bjp-nominates-ram-jethmalani-for-rajya-sabha-polls-from-rajasthan_1392658
Monday being the last day for filing Rajya Sabha (RS) nominations, a bitter struggle was on in Karnataka and Jharkhand — where money seems to be playing a bigger role than merit — on Sunday to grab the one seat each left in these states.
No single party is in a position to win the seats on its own. Top industrialists Vijay Mallya and Vinod Goenka are among the aspirants.
JD(S) leader and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda had kept Mallya and two others waiting in Bangalore at the time of going to press.
In an arrangement between Congress and JD(S), the seat has gone to Gowda. However, Congress does not want Mallya in the Upper House as he is considered close to agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.
BJP can win two seats from Karnataka and will still be left with some votes, which Mallya is seeking. Congress can get one candidate elected and has nominated Oscar Fernandes.
In Jharkhand, Shibu Soren lived up to expectations and nominated Chandigarh billionaire KD Singh. He had earlier announced the candidature of Supreme Court lawyer Sanjiv Kumar from Giridh.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief had come to the capital on Saturday to hold secret parleys with BJP and Congress to garner support for KD Singh. He met BJP’s Rajnath Singh and some Congress leaders, but both showed him the door and announced their own candidates.
There are 81 seats in the Jharkhand assembly, which is in suspended animation, and two Rajya Sabha seats from the state are to be filled. A winner needs 40.5 votes. The BJP-JD(U) alliance has 20 votes and Congress-JVM 25.
A candidate can be elected on the strength of around 28 first-preference votes and the remaining second-preference votes.
Congress candidate Dheeraj Sahu will win if all goes well, while BJP’s Ajay Maru will have to fight KD Singh’s moneybags.
Meanwhile, BJP finally announced the candidature of Ram Jethmalani from Rajasthan, causing many a heartburn.
Leading businessman Rajesh Shah was in the reckoning for the second seat, but veteran LK Advani prevailed over the BJP leadership to ensure a ticket for Jethmalani.
The eminent lawyer, who is camping in Jaipur, will file his papers on Monday.
