Congress leaders (left to right) Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Abhikesh Manu Singhvi, Chandrakant Handore.
Credit: PTI and X/@@akhileshPdsingh, @HandoreC
New Delhi: Congress on Wednesday chose Ajay Maken, Syed Nasir Hussain and GC Chandrasekhar as party candidates for Rajya Sabha election from Karnataka besides fielding senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi from Himachal Pradesh and Akhilesh Prasad Singh from Bihar.
Sitting Karnataka MP L Hanumanthaiah was denied renomination as the party chose to bring Treasurer Maken, a close Rahul Gandhi aide whose earlier bid to enter the Rajya Sabha from Haryana ended in defeat following factional divide in the state.
It also chose senior leader Renuka Chowdhury, who will be returning to the Rajya Sabha after a gap of six years, and youth leader Anil Yadav from Telangana, Congress Working Committee member Chandrakant Handore from Maharashtra and Ashok Singh from Madhya Pradesh.
The announcement of the candidates came on a day former party chief Sonia Gandhi filed her nomination from Rajasthan, ending her innings in electoral politics that spanned 25 years. With Sonia’s entry into Rajasthan, five out of six Congress Rajya Sabha MPs are outsiders.
Congress hopes to win ten out of 56 Rajya Sabha seats that will be going to polls on February 27. If no surprises happen, the party is expected to improve its tally from nine to ten. The last date of nomination is Thursday.
In Karnataka, the leadership chose to renominate two of the three sitting MPs, leading to the exclusion of Hanumanthaiah. Nasir, a Congress Working Committee member and in-charge of party president Mallikrjun Kharge’s office who has been renominated from Karnataka, is also party’s Whip in Rajya Sabha.
Senior lawyer Singhvi was representing Congress from West Bengal and this time, the party decided to field him from the lone seat in Himachal where it is in power. Earlier, there was speculation that he would be fielded from either Telangana or Karnataka.
Singhvi will be the first person who does not hail from Himachal to represent the state in the Rajya Sabha. Sources said senior leader Anand Sharma also lobbied for a seat with support from a section in the state unit but Singhvi was finally chosen by the leadership.
Bihar Congress president Singh was renominated from his home state though the party has just 19 MLAs. Sources said the RJD was also keen to support if the Congress chooses Singh.
A Dalit and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member, Handore’s choice comes close on the heels of former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan leaving Congress on Tuesday. He had lost the MLC election in 2022.
While there were reports that Kamal Nath was lobbying for a Rajya Sabha ticket from Madhya Pradesh, the leadership decided to field senior leader Singh, who is a known Jyotiraditya Scindia detractor.