Sonia in a fix on nominations for RS polls

Among the prominent such aspirants for the Rajya Sabha seats are CWC member K Vijaybhaskar Reddy, former deputy leader in the Lok Sabha P Shiv Shanker, AICC general secretary Motilal Vora, party spokesman Ajit Jogi, senior leader Balram Jakhar, Mumbai Regional Congress Committee chief Murli Deora as also the newly appointed Maharashtra PCC President Govindrao Adik.

CWC member Arjun Singh, who had not contested the Lok Sabha elections this time after two successive defeats in 1996 and 1998, is also an aspirant for an Upper House berth.

Another CWC member K Natwar Singh, who had opted out of the fray from the Bharatpur Lok Sabha seat due to ill health is reportedly a prominent contender for one of the three Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan.

Singh’s son had unsuccessfully contested the Bharatpur seat as the party nominee in the Lok Sabha polls.

Sonia’s decision on the issue of nomination of defeated leaders would have a major bearing on the inner party equations as a section in the party believes that disgruntlement would grow if she failed to bring fresh faces in the Upper House but utilise the opportunity only to "rehabiltate" those humbled in the Lok Sabha.

"The party has to give a signal whether it wanted the "bypass" generation or a second line of leadership, one young leader remarked.

In the recent Rajya Sabha elections from Delhi, the party had nominated former Union minister Karan Singh, who had unsuccessfully contested against Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee from Lucknow in the Lok Sabha elections.

At that time however, the AICC had made it clear that Karan Singh’s was a "special case" as he had resigned from the Rajya Sabha two years before the end of his term when he joined Congress last year. Singh then was a nominee of the National Conference in the Upper House.

Former party MP and superstar of yesteryears, Rajesh Khanna had then protested against denial of Rajya Sabha nomination to him at the last minute and had accused a coterie surrounding Sonia of misleading her. Khanna, who had even spoken about the possibility of joining BJP, was subsequently won over by the party leadership.

Central leaders have been maintaining that no decision has yet been taken about the norms to be adopted while deciding the RS nominations.

While 21 members of the Congress were retiring from the Rajya Sabha, the party would be able to get only 18 candidates elected due to its truncated strength in some state assemblies.

A section in the party believes that the leadership should not make it a very hard and fast rule of not nominating those defeated in the Lok Sabha elections and decide the issue on a case by case basis. "The BJP or no other party observes such a norm and therefore there was no need for the Congress to do so and decide the issue on a case by case basis", a CWC member remarked.

In Madhya Pradesh, former Union minister H R Bhardwaj, PCC president R K Malaviya, Ghufran Azam and Veena Verma were retiring.

Besides these four, those reportedly in the race for three seats from the state are Arjun Singh, Motilal Vora, Ajit Jogi, V C Shukla and Pawan Diwan.

In Maharashtra, three members — V N Gadgil, Govindrao Adik and Saroj Khaparde — are retiring while there is reportedly a long list of contenders including R D Pradhan Murli Deora, Prithviraj Chavan, Nasikrao Tirpude and Prataprao Bhosale besides the retiring members.

Film thespian Dilip Kumar’s name as among the aspirantsis also doing round of party circles.