Zee Media boss Subhash Chandra’s entry in the Rajya Sabha elections in Rajasthan has left the ruling Congress surprised. Chandra, who won the last Rajya Sabha polls from Haryana an independent candidate with the support of the BJP, will be contesting for the fourth seat in Rajasthan.
Rajasthan has four Rajya Sabha seats and the ruling Congress is certain to win three of them. The BJP is in a position to win the fourth seat.
The Congress had named Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari from the state.
The BJP had named Ghanshyam Tiwari as its nominee from Rajasthan. With Chandra throwing his hat into the ring, the contest has become very interesting. This effectively means that Tiwari will have to win the contest against Chandra to secure a Rajya Sabha seat for himself.
Backing Chandra in Rajasthan is being seen as a politically clever move by the BJP, which aims to take advantage of the resentment within the Congress legislative group.
Many party workers had raised their objections over the Congress’ list of nominees from Rajasthan saying that none of them hailed from the state.
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Chandra was elected to the Rajya Sabha with help from the Congress in 2016. Shenanigans within the Congress’ Haryana unit had meant that 14 of the party’s votes were declared invalid resulting in the shock victory of Chandra.
The Congress faced plenty of criticism from its senior leaders after the list of Rajya Sabha nominations was announced. Senior party leader Pawan Khera, who’s often seen flying the Congress’ flag in TV debates, had public asked why his could not be deemed worthy of a Rajya Sabha candidate.
Actor-turned-politician, Nagma, had also tweeted expressing her anguish over the exclusion.