<p>Opposition on Wednesday decided to field BK Hariprasad, senior Congress MP from Karnataka, as their candidate for the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman elections.</p>.<p>The decision came after NCP and DMK refused to field their MPs as joint Opposition candidate for the Thursday elections in which NDA is fielding JD(U)'s journalist-turned-MP Harivansh.</p>.<p>The Congress has proposed the name of Hariprasad in Tuesday evening meeting after NCP said it was not keen on fielding Vandana Chavan, on whom Opposition had earlier made a larger consensus. </p>.<p>Till Tuesday evening, Chavan was the front-runner but NCP changed its decision after BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik reportedly told NCP chief Sharad Pawar that he has already pledged support to Harivansh after a call from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. NCP leaders had conveyed this to Opposition leaders on Tuesday evening.</p>.<p>However, a twist in the tale came with BJD issuing a statement that it has not committed support to anyone and a decision will be taken on Wednesday only. The statement also interestingly referred to Kumar not voting for PA Sangma in 2012 Presidential elections even after Patnaik sought his support. </p>.<p>BJD's nine MPs hold the keys to the results as their decision to vote in favour of any candidate or abstain has a direct bearing on the outcome.</p>.<p>At present, the NDA claims the support of 115 MPs while opposition claims support of 118. With 2-member PDP abstaining, the half-way mark has come down to 122 and a BJD decision to vote for Harivansh would see NDA sailing through. If BJD decides to abstain, then it will be tough for BJP.</p>
<p>Opposition on Wednesday decided to field BK Hariprasad, senior Congress MP from Karnataka, as their candidate for the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman elections.</p>.<p>The decision came after NCP and DMK refused to field their MPs as joint Opposition candidate for the Thursday elections in which NDA is fielding JD(U)'s journalist-turned-MP Harivansh.</p>.<p>The Congress has proposed the name of Hariprasad in Tuesday evening meeting after NCP said it was not keen on fielding Vandana Chavan, on whom Opposition had earlier made a larger consensus. </p>.<p>Till Tuesday evening, Chavan was the front-runner but NCP changed its decision after BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik reportedly told NCP chief Sharad Pawar that he has already pledged support to Harivansh after a call from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. NCP leaders had conveyed this to Opposition leaders on Tuesday evening.</p>.<p>However, a twist in the tale came with BJD issuing a statement that it has not committed support to anyone and a decision will be taken on Wednesday only. The statement also interestingly referred to Kumar not voting for PA Sangma in 2012 Presidential elections even after Patnaik sought his support. </p>.<p>BJD's nine MPs hold the keys to the results as their decision to vote in favour of any candidate or abstain has a direct bearing on the outcome.</p>.<p>At present, the NDA claims the support of 115 MPs while opposition claims support of 118. With 2-member PDP abstaining, the half-way mark has come down to 122 and a BJD decision to vote for Harivansh would see NDA sailing through. If BJD decides to abstain, then it will be tough for BJP.</p>
