Manu Singhvi will be supported by TMC for the 5th seat.
In a step, which is likely to increase Congress and Trinamool Congress bonhomie ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the ruling party in Bengal has decided to support the grand-old-party in upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.
TMC on Friday announced candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
Mamata Banerjee lead TMC has enough seats in the 294 member Assembly to ensure win for 4 of its candidates. For the 5th seat, the party has decided to support eminent lawyer and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi. There was much discussion about the fifth seat, and there was suggestion that Sitarama Yechury may contest with Congress support. But TMC has ended the speculation game, by giving its support to Congress. This move is significant ahead of Lok Sabha elections next year. At a time, when BJP is buoyed after win in Tripura and is looking to make headway in Bengal, TMC is looking to ensure opposition unity.
TMC and Congress had a bitter fallout shortly after 2011 assembly elections, and later Congress joined hands with Left to contest in 2016 Bengal assembly polls. However, TMC easily managed to defeat them. But both parties are burying their hatchet and are coming together for Rajya Sabha elections keeping in eye 2019 polls. However, this decision goes contrary to Mamata's efforts for a non-Congress, non-BJP third front.
he ruling BJP is all set to gain appreciably in the Rajya Sabha with elections for 58 outgoing members to be held on March 23. Given its massive win in Uttar Pradesh and dominant presence in several states, the BJP's tally is expected to swell by about a dozen seats to 70 in the 245-member House.
Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of retiring members at 10, followed by Maharashtra and Bihar (6), Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal (5), Gujarat and Karnataka (4), Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Rajasthan (3), Jharkhand (2), and Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand (1).
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