Nomination process for 2 RS seats begins; INDIA bloc, NDA yet to reveal names

Ranchi: The nomination process for election to two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand commenced on Monday with the notification being issued. The INDIA bloc or NDA, however, is yet to announce their candidates even as hectic parleys are on to finalise the names.The last date for filing nominations is June 8, and scrutiny of papers will be done on June 9, chief electoral officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar’s office said. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is June 11. “In case there are more than two candidates, polling will take place on June 18,” he said.On Monday, no nomination papers were filed. While JMM, which is running an alliance govt with the Congress and RJD, is set to field a candidate from its fold, the grand old party is still waiting to hear from its partner. On Friday, Congress’ Jharkhand affairs in-charge K Raju had met chief minister Hemant Soren at the latter’s residence to stake claim on one seat. “Talks are still on,” a Congress spokesperson said on Monday. Congress has also reached out to CPI-ML and RJD seeking support to field a second nominee as INDIA bloc’s candidate.On the other hand, state BJP president Aditya Sahu and other senior functionaries left to Delhi on Sunday night to discuss modalities for the election with the central leadership.Of the two RS seats, one fell vacant following the death of JMM patriarch Shibu Soren last year, while BJP’s Deepak Prakash’s term is set to complete on June 21.The JMM-Congress-RJD dispensation has a total of 56 MLAs in the 81-member House. Going by the numbers, the alliance govt is set to win both seats easily. However, with BJP announcing that it will field its candidates, the fight is set to turn interesting, with allegations of horse-trading being levelled. To win, a candidate is required to secure a minimum of 28 first-preference votes.