Rajya Sabha candidatures were filed today for three seats from Gujarat and one each from Goa and West Bengal by nominees of major parties.
From Gujarat, Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, filed his nomination. So did television serial actress Smriti Irani, head of the party’s women’s wing, and veteran BJP worker Dileep Pandya. From Goa on behalf of the Congress party, Shantaram Naik filed his nomination for the lone Rajya Sabha seat, for another term. From Kolkata came the nomination of Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M).
Said Naik, “The NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) has already supported me, the MGP (Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party) will spell its stand tomorrow in my favour and independent legislator Anil Salgaoncar is already with the Congress.” The Congress has 20 votes, BJP 14, NCP three, MGP two and there’s one independent in the 40-member Goa Assembly. BJP leader Manohar Parrikar said the party on its own did not have enough strength to win but it could defeat the Congress candidate through a proper strategy.
After the drubbing it recieved in the West Bengal assembly polls in May, the CPI(M) can be sure of winning just one of the six seats from West Bengal for which elections will be held on July 22. The Rajya Sabha terms of four Left Front leaders — Yechury, Brinda Karat, Mohammad Amin, all CPI(M), and Abani Roy of the RSP, besides Trinamool Congress’ Swapna Sadhan Bose — will all end on August 18. By legislative arithmetic, the ruling Trinamool Congress-Congress combine can win five seats and the Left parties, one. The sixth seat has been vacant since the death in September 2010 of independent Arjun Sengupta, who was elected with both Left and Congress support.
