R Khan to be RS deputy chairman

K Rehman Khan, MP from Karanataka and minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers, is set to become the next deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha for which the election is scheduled on July 22.

The announcement of Khan's name is all but a formality with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) having agreed to his candidature, according to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

According to sources in the government, appointments with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President APJ Abdul Kalam have been lined up for Khan so that he can tender his resignation from the council of ministers and is able to file his nomination before the 10 am deadline tomorrow.

As a member of the council of ministers Khan cannot file his papers for the post.

Khan's name was a surprise choice for the post, but according to government sources, it has been a considered choice.

"Earlier it was thought that Vyalar Ravi, one of the seniormost members of the Rajya Sabha, be nominated to the deputy chairperson's post. But his problem with speaking in Hindi marred his chances," said a senior minister.

The Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha are mostly from the Hindi belt and the government wanted a deputy chairperson who would be able to engage them, said a senior minister.

Khan fulfills all the criterion set before the Congress: he is from the South, belongs to the minority community and is a Congressman. PM Sayeed, was another choice for the post. But Sayeed declined to contest as he preferred to be part of the Union Cabinet.

The BJP had planned to contest the post, but declined after talks with the UPA, the trade off being that an NDA nominee had been made the deputy Speaker.

The post of deputy chairperson has been lying vacant since July 7 when its last occupant Najma Heptullah completed her term.

Although Heptullah has been re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan, this time her party is the BJP, which does not have the sufficient numbers to see her through.

Khan emerged as a front runner as there was thinking that the post should go to a leader from the South as the three posts of presiding officers were from other regions.

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee hails from West Bengal, Deputy Speaker CS Atwal from Punjab and the Rajya Sabha Chairman BS Shekhawat from Rajasthan.