By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: If political grapevines are to be believed, BJP Central leadership is seriously considering name of its National VP and 4th times, former MP, Baijayant Jay Panda for a Rajya Sabha seat from Assam, polls for which will be held on March 31.
ECI will issue of Notifications on March 14 while last date of making nominations is March, 21, scrutiny of nominations by 22, last date for withdrawal of candidatures by 24 while polling will be held on March 31.After the elections results are out from 5 States, where Assembly polls held, the BJD central leadership may take a call on its Rajya Sabha candidates. Since Congress is all set to lose 2 Rajya Sabha seats, that would go to BJP, Baijayant Panda’s chance looks bright, sources added.
The elections to 13 Rajya Sabha seats will be held on March 31. These seats are spread across six states — five in Punjab, three in Kerala, two in Assam, and one each in Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Nagaland. The names of retiring members are Ranee Narah and Ripun Bora from Assam. The Northern States of Assam will see 2 vacancies in April.
Since BJP National VP Panda, is in charge of Assam, where the Saffron Party bounced back to power in Assembly and just concluded Civic polls, chances loot bright for the former MP Panda to enter into Rajya Sabha from Assam, where 2 seats will fall vacant by April. The BJP has emerged victorious in the Assam Municipal Elections by winning 73 civic bodies out of 80, as per poll results declared by the Assam State Election Commission (ASEC) on Wednesday.
It may be noted here that BJP National VP Jay Panda, was earlier served twice each in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and was a 4th times former MP from Odisha.
Baijayant Panda’s recent meeting with Assam Chief Minister Hemant Biswa Sharma and close door meeting with Assam BJP leaders including State president, Bhabesh Kalita in Guwahati, speaks a lot about the above mentioned possibilities.
The result of the Rajya Sabha elections in the five states will have a bearing on the Presidential election and will also usher in changes in the upper house of Parliament. Of the five states, four were ruled by the BJP with the saffron party commanding a brute majority in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Punjab was ruled by the Congress.
If the BJP’s seat tally declines in the poll-bound states, the saffron party may find itself on the backseat in the Presidential polls. A total of 776 MPs from both the houses – the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and 4120 MLAs from all the states and Union Territories vote to elect the President.
