RS poll: BJP may win 2 seats, Cong one in MP

Bhopal: Amid the COVID-19 crises, a tough fight between the ruling BJP and the Congress will be witnessed in Madhya Pradesh for the third seat of the Upper House in the Rajya Sabha polls, scheduled on 19 June.

The Rajya Sabha polls are to be held in the state for three seats, falling vacant after completing the term of senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and BJP's Prabhat Jha and Satyanarayan Jatia.

BJP has fielded former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia who joined the saffron party three months ago, and an RSS activist Sumer Singh Solanki as its candidates while the Congress has given the ticket to former CM Digvijaya Singh and a Dalit leader Phool Singh Baraiya. Digvijay and Scindia are the first choices candidate of the Congress and BJP respectively. The both parties would normally expect a smooth passage for their first priority candidates, however, the tussle is for the second seat.

The way the numbers are stacked, the BJP may win two seats while the Congress will win one for sure. But tough competition is on the second seat between both the parties. An RS candidate needs 53 votes to win the seat. Congress has 92 MLAs in the House while the BJP has 107. Four seats are held by independents, two by the BSP and one by the SP.

"There is no possibility of cross-voting in the RS polls neither state has any history of this practice nor BJP has less number in the House so we will surely register a victory on the two seats nevertheless the party is alert to deal with any situation," BJP's veteran and senior-most MLA in the Assembly, Gopal Bhargav told the Millennium Post.

The state Assembly is 230-membered but due to resignations by 22 Scindia supporter Congress MLAs who joined the BJP along with him and the demise of the two legislators, the MP assembly has a strength of 206 at present with 24 seats lying vacant.

With the likelihood of seven BJP MLAs voting against their candidates, the party is concerned. This is reflected in the party's strategy to delay the cabinet expansion until the RS elections to prevent any possibility of cross-voting.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan could not extend his ministry even after taking oath of his office on March 23. He is running the government with just five-membered mini-cabinet in the COVID-19 hit state.

According to sources, out of maximum 34 ministerial berths, 10 Scindia supporter former MLAs may be inducted in the cabinet therefore, the possibility will be less for the BJP's legislators.

"Congress will win two seats. Several BJP MLAs are in touch with Kamal Nathji and those who believe in the democracy will cast their votes in favour of our second preference candidate on their inner-voice because they are hurt with the fall of an elected Congress government," senior-most MLA in Congress fold, Dr Govind Singh said. "In the wake of not inducting the senior BJP MLAs into the cabinet, the dissatisfaction is at peak among them, it will help us in the Rajya Sabha polls", he also said.

CM Chouhan and former CM Kamal Nath both are claiming to win the two seats.

Moreover, the BJP has engineered a defection recently toppled the Nath-led Congress government and is aware that it is something that is not in the realm of impossible now.