RS polls: Sonia names observers for Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra

Rahul Gandhi, who returned from abroad on Saturday, reviewed the preparations to ensure the victory of the party's 3 Rajya Sabha nominees, writes Amit Agnihotri.

New Delhi:Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Sunday appointed senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Pawan Bansal, TS Singh Deo, Rajeev Shukla and Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel as observers for the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls amid fears that the BJP may poach on party MLAs. According to a statement issued by AICC general secretary in charge of organization KC Venugopal, Kharge will be sent to Maharashtra, Bansal and Singh Deo to Rajasthan and Baghel and Shukla to Haryana as AICC observers for the Rajya Sabha polls.

The order came shortly after Rahul Gandhi reviewed the coming Rajya Sabha polls along with senior leaders. Rahul, who returned from abroad on Saturday, reviewed the preparations to ensure the victory of the party's 3 Rajya Sabha nominees from Rajasthan and 1 from Haryana, where the BJP is supporting two media owners contesting as independent candidates to trouble the grand old party.

The Congress nominees from Rajasthan are Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari, while Ajay Maken is the sole candidate from Haryana for the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls. Dissent has also surfaced in Maharashtra, where the Congress has fielded minority department chairman Imran Pratapgarhi as its nominee for the RS polls.

All these candidates are also facing resistance as they are outsiders to the respective states but party insiders argued that such nominations have happened in the past as well. The BJP is publicly backing the two independent candidates, Subhash Chandra from Rajasthan and Kartikey Sharma from Haryana. Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia and Haryana chief minister ML Khattar have urged all the MLAs in their states to support Chandra and Sharma respectively.

To stop the poaching of party MLAs, the Congress managers have herded the Rajasthan lawmakers to a hotel in Udaipur while the legislators from Haryana have been moved to a resort in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The MLAs will reach the state capitals, Jaipur and Chandigarh respectively, a day before the June 10 polls. Party insiders said the BJP is trying to poach the six Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs, who had later switched sides and supported the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan in 2018.

In Haryana, the Congress managers are trying to pacify Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is upset as he was left out in the recent revamp of the state unit. Bishnoi is also miffed for being sidelined by the camp of former chief minister BS Hooda, who is the current CLP leader and is virtually in control of the party in the northern state.

On Saturday, Bishnoi remarked that he would vote in the Rajya Sabha polls as per his conscience and not party directive to which Hooda responded by saying that if someone’s conscience was not in the Congress, they should leave the party. Party insiders said Rahul is trying to unite the Bishnoi and the Hooda camps to ensure a smooth victory for Maken.

Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister and state unit chief Sachin Pilot assured Rahul during the review meeting that the party had sufficient numbers in both the states to ensure victory of the party nominees for the Rajya Sabha. Pilot also expressed confidence that the 6 BSP MLAs would also support the Congress candidates.

Read: Congress trying to deal with RS poll woes