Rajya Sabha election: Congress picks spark criticism and dissent

Dissent echoed once again in the Congress party after the party announced 10 candidates for the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls. A number of leaders have raised questions over the party's selections. Among those unhappy are actress-turned-politician Nagma Morarji and Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera.

Also Read: Are India and Pakistan holding back channel dialogue?

The Congress party had on Sunday announced the names of former Union ministers P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and Ajay Maken, and that of the party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala as candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections.

On Sunday night, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera took to Twitter to post, 'Shayad meri tapasya mein kuch kami reh gayi (Perhaps there were some shortcomings in my penance)." Hours later, on Monday morning, Khera softened his grief, saying that it is the party that had given him his identity.

"I am not only in agreement with this view of mine but also stand by it," he said, tagging a post from a few days ago when he had asserted that Congressmen should not forget that the party gave them their identity.

Nagma responded to Khera's tweet on penance, saying, "My 18 years of penance fell short before Imran 'bhai' (Imran Pratapgarhi, who has been fielded from Maharashtra)

In her Twitter post, she asked: "Soniaji our Congress president had personally committed to accommodating me in Rajya Sabha in 2003-2004 when I joined Congress party on her behest. We were not in power then. Since then it has been 18 years, but they did not find an opportunity. Mr Imran is accommodated in Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra. I ask am I less deserving." 

Also Read: Mumbai, UP Police use 'Stranger Things' to convey a message

Responding to Morarji's tweet, Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam said in a tweet that the penance of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Salman Khurshid and Tariq Anwar had to wait for over 40 years, but they too were 'martyred'.

It is a suicidal step for the party to suppress talent, he said in another tweet in Hindi.

The Rumbling in Rajasthan

Rajasthan's Independent MLA from Sirohi Sanyam Lodha, who was formerly in the Congress, lashed out at the party. Lodha had quit the party during the 2018 assembly elections after the party denied him a ticket. He contested as an independent candidate.

"The Congress party should clarify why it did not make any Congress leader or worker from Rajasthan, a candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections," he asked, tagging Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in his Twitter post.

A senior Congress leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the decision to give tickets to outsiders will have an adverse impact on the party next year.
    
"Before choosing the candidate of Rajya Sabha, the high command should have thought of the next assembly elections in Rajasthan. The approach of the high command should have been of selecting locals, balancing the social engineering in order to garner public support in favour of the party in next elections," he said.

Who did Congress field for the Rajya Sabha election?

The list released by the Congress party on Sunday is as follows: 

* Palaniappan Chidambaram from Tamil Nadu 

* Jairam Ramesh from Karnataka

* Ajay Maken from Haryana 

* Randeep Singh Surjewala from Rajasthan

* Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari from Rajasthan

* Vivek Tankha from Madhya Pradesh

* Rajeev Shukla from Chhattisgarh 

* Ranjeet Ranjan from Maharashtra

The Congress is expected to get 10 Rajya Sabha seats in the June 10 election cycle. Elections will be held to fill 57 Rajya Sabha seats from 15 states falling vacant due to the retirement of members on different dates between June and August. The last date for filing nominations is May 31. 

With PTI Inputs