Priyanka headed for huge victory in Wayanad,Cong wins Palakkad, LDF retains Chelakkara
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who made her poll debut from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, is headed for a massive victory.
Congress MP B K Hariprasad is likely to be the Opposition’s candidate for the post of Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson
Several opposition parties, who have joined hands against the BJP, decided to field a joint candidate to take on NDA nominee Harivansh Narayan Singh of the JD(U) for the August 9 election.
Wednesday is the last date for filing nominations.
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Sixty-four-year-old Hariprasad is a Congress member of Rajya Sabha from Karnataka.
The Congress decided to field its nominee as the joint opposition candidate after the other parties in the opposition bloc chose not to nominate their members, sources said.
Also Read | BJD likely to support NDA’s Harivansh Narayan Singh as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman
Earlier, there were reports that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Vandana Chavan will be the joint candidate of Opposition, but the NCP later withdrew her name from the contention.
The post of deputy chairman has been lying vacant since June this year following the retirement of PJ Kurien, who had been elected to the Upper House on a Congress ticket from Kerala.
The current strength of the Rajya Sabha is 244 and support of 123 members would be needed for a win in the full House.
The BJP is the largest party in the House with 73 members. Among its allies, the JD(U) has six MPs while the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal have three each.
The Shiv Sena on Tuesday clarified its stand and said it would support the NDA’s nominee in the election for the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman’s post.
Read More | Will support NDA nominee for Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman’s post: Shiv Sena
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) with its nine MPs is likely to support NDA candidate and a formal announcement by the BJD in this regard is expected to be made on Wednesday.
(With agency inputs)
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