In a sign to budding leaders throughout India, the Congress on Thursday stunned many by asserting three newcomers to the Rajya Sabha polls to be held on March 16 for 37 vacancies in 10 states.
The get together’s three newcomers embrace a Dalit chief from Haryana, a grassroots chief from the Christian Dalit neighborhood in Tamil Nadu, and the District Congress Committee (DCC) chairman from Himachal Pradesh. The get together re-elected two candidates, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi from Telangana and professional Devi Netam from Chhattisgarh, and gave ticket to former Telugu Desam Get together (TDP) chief Vem Narendra Reddy from Telangana. He joined the Congress in 2017 after resigning from the TDP.
Reactions to the candidates inside Congress have been combined. Whereas some welcomed the get together excessive command’s determination to present newcomers an opportunity, others have been “shocked” by the get together’s choice and expressed disappointment that “veterans are being ignored.”
Haryana
The three newcomers embrace Karanveer Singh Budh (61), a retired civil servant and Dalit chief from Haryana who joined the get together a 12 months in the past on the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS).
Believed to be near All India Congress Committee (AICC) Scheduled Castes (SC) unit chief Rajendra Pal Gautam and AICC Different Backward Courses (OBC) unit chief Anil Jaihind, Bood is a gazetted officer within the Haryana state secretariat and is described by many as a “social justice warrior” who works “selflessly” for social change. Bood is the nationwide coordinator of the get together’s SC wing and was concerned in organizing Rahul Gandhi’s Sanvidhan Sammarans.
Bood’s candidacy for the higher home can be seen as a message to Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, the place parliamentary elections are due in 2027. The get together sees it as a possibility to win over regional votes, as Bahujan Samaj Get together (BSP) chief Mayawati has retreated to the fringes of nationwide politics prior to now few elections.
Bood faces a troublesome problem within the Rajya Sabha elections as he isn’t a part of any Congress bloc in Haryana led by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Dalit chief and Congress chief Selja Kumari. With two seats in Rajya Sabha in Haryana falling vacant, there shall be sufficient MLAs within the Congress to win a minimum of one seat barring any opposition votes from get together members.
tamil nadu
The get together’s second shock choice is M. Christopher Tilak, chief of Tiruchirappalli district in Tamil Nadu, a Dalit Christian who has risen by means of the ranks of the get together through the years.
Tilak, 53, is the AICC secretary for the northeastern states of Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. Described as a “grassroots” chief with no political background, Tilak is seen as a staunch get together “loyalist” within the Congress ecosystems in Tamil Nadu and Delhi. Tilak, identified for his closeness to Rahul Gandhi, has labored for events in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Hailing from a state the place the Congress has relied on its ally DMK for many years, Tilak has carved out an identification in state politics and his “dedication” has drawn consideration from the Congress excessive command, get together leaders in Tamil Nadu mentioned.
Six Rajya Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu are vacant, however the Congress has fielded one candidate as a part of its seat-sharing settlement with the ruling DMK for the upcoming meeting polls. The DMK-led alliance’s sturdy place within the Meeting means it has sufficient MLAs to fill a minimum of 4 vacant seats, with the remaining two seats more likely to go to the AIADMK-led Opposition.
himachal pradesh
In one other shock choice, the Congress has nominated District Congress Committee (DCC) chairman Anurag Sharma as the one candidate from Himachal Pradesh within the Rajya Sabha seat.
Sharma, 47, can be the president of the Birbilling Paragliding Affiliation and has an enormous affect on the tourism trade within the hill state. Sharma is an in depth aide of Chief Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sukhbinder.
His nomination to the Rajya Sabha seat alerts to DCCs throughout India that the get together plans to empower district heads appointed below the nationwide Sangatan Srijan Abhiyan, launched in December 2024. That is an organizational reform that’s mentioned to have been proposed by Rahul Gandhi.
Sharma is at the moment the chairman of the Kangra District Congress Committee and is taken into account an lively get together member who has held a number of organizational positions prior to now.
Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh has only one emptiness within the Rajya Sabha, and the get together is assured of successful a seat.
telangana
Whereas these three nominations stunned the Congress, the fourth nomination, Vemu Narender Reddy from Telangana, got here as much less of a shock. Narender Reddy, 65, a former TDP MLA from Mahabubabad and an in depth pal of Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy, hails from Telangana’s influential Reddy neighborhood.
In Might 2015, Narender Reddy made headlines when CM Revanth Reddy, then an MLA, was accused by the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of “bribing” sitting legislators to vote in favor of Narender Reddy within the state legislative elections.
In Telangana, two Rajya Sabha seats are vacant, however the ruling Congress is predicted to safe each seats because it has an absolute majority within the meeting. For Telangana’s second seat, the get together has renominated senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, 67, who has been Rajya Sabha MP in three states since 2006. The nomination is predicted to be his fifth time period within the Senate.
In the meantime, in Chhattisgarh, distinguished tribal chief Pholo Devi Netam has been re-nominated for a second time period in Rajya Sabha. With two seats mendacity vacant within the state, the opposition Congress has sufficient MLAs to win one seat and the ruling BJP is predicted to win the opposite.
Netam, 54, whose candidature has been described by get together leaders as a “necessity” for authorized functions as a Supreme Court docket lawyer, was a part of a gaggle of Congress leaders focused by Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Darba Valley in 2013 whereas coming back from a celebration assembly in Sukma. Greater than 20 folks have been killed, however Netam survived the assault.
Get together leaders in Delhi mentioned the collection of the excessive command was a sign to staff within the states that their “devotion” to the Congress can be rewarded. “Electing a DCC chief, a grassroots chief and an unknown Dalit is a good message to those that are rising up within the get together,” mentioned the Rajya Sabha MP.
Nonetheless, some, particularly in Haryana, have criticized the choice. “The get together excessive command nominated folks after listening to the opinions of people that don’t have any fundamental information or actuality. Time will inform how these candidates will fare within the elections,” mentioned a senior official from Haryana.
