The echoes of protests against allowing out sider candidates for the two Rajya Sabha seats are getting louder.
It is a problem of plenty for chief minister Ashok Chavan as he gets into the act of shortlisting candidates for the Rajya Sabha and the state legislature council. There are too many aspirants for too few seats.
The echoes of protests against allowing outsider candidates for the two Rajya Sabha seats are getting louder. Chavan will have to walk the tight-rope, as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) bosses want him to look beyond the state.
Sources in the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) told DNA, “The Union ministers representing Maharashtra have told the AICC to take into account the growing resentment against outsiders within the state unit of the party.” Also, questions have been raised about the role of loyalists within the organisation.
Congress leader Anant Gadgil has written to some of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) members, urging them to take note of loyalists while picking candidates for the state council and Rajya Sabha. “To make his point, Gadgil has cited himself.
His family has served the party for three generations, and yet he has never been given any position in the organisation,” a source said.
A central minister said on condition of anonymity, “I have appraised the central leadership about the political climate in Maharashtra. With the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena playing the anti-migrant plank, I have urged the leadership to try and accommodate state Congress candidates in both the Rajya Sabha seats.”
He added, “I can also understand the dilemma of the AICC. It will have to find a suitable state to get the likes of Union minister Anand Sharma and Capt Satish Sharma elected to the Rajya Sabha.”
The battle for the two Rajya Sabha seats has hotted up with half a dozen senior state leaders recommending names of their candidates. The list of probables that has been sent to the MPCC chief, Manikrao Thakre, includes Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, Charulata Tokas, Rajani Patil, Avinash Pande and Kanhaiyalal Gidwani.
The RS seats have fallen vacant after Shivraj Patil and Vijay Darda completed their term. Patil has already been made the governor of Punjab. A section is lobbying to ensure that Darda retains his RS seat, but there are many others who want to accommodate loyalists like Avinash Pande, who had contested and lost against noted industrialist Rahul Bajaj.
Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva is rooting for Charulata Tokas, daughter of the late Rajasthan governor, Prabha Rau. The Shivraj Patil camp wants Rajani Patil to be elected to the Rajya Sabha.
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