Congress veteran K Karunakaran, AICC spokesman Anand Sharma and senior Akali Dal leader GS Tohra are poised to be elected to the Rajya Sabha as the deadline for filing of nominations for the 12 vacant seats in the Upper House ended today with a total 19 candidates in the fray. | |
| Karunakaran, whose nomination was cleared by AICC chief Sonia Gandhi yesterday, and sitting Communist Party of India (M) MP Vijayaraghavan, re-nominated by the party, filed his papers in Thiruvananthapuram today. |
| |
| IUML's PV Abdul Wahab had filed his nomination last week. All three are set to get elected as they are the only contestants for the three vacant seats from Kerala. |
| |
| Anand Sharma filed his papers from Shimla. He will contest former Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Radha Raman Shastri for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from the state. |
| |
| Sharma's victory is a foregone conclusion as the Congress has declared support of 48 members, including five associate members. |
| |
| Former Chief Election Commissioner MS Gill, SGPC President GS Tohra, Punjab Congress chief HS Hanspal, Dharampal and Ashwini Kumar filed their nominations in Chandigarh. |
| |
| Shiromani Akali Dal's Virender Singh Bajwa and his covering candidate Jarnail Singh had filed their nominations yesterday. |
| |
| Hanspal filed his paper as a covering candidate for Gill. On the basis of their strength in the state Assembly, the Congress can win three out of the five seats in the state. |
| |
| Gill, on being asked whether he could contest the election from Punjab as he is not a voter in the state, said: "It is up to the returning officer to decide...I have filed my papers." |
| |
| Meanwhile, the returning officer said as per the Election Commission guidelines one may be a voter in any constituency in India for contesting Rajya Sabha polls. |
| |
| The BJP has, however, sharply criticised the Congress decision to nominate Gill. Party president Venkiah Naidu declared that the party would never nominate a former Chief Election Commissioner to the Rajya Sabha, as it affected the credibility of the decisions taken by him when in office. |
| |
|
| |
