The electoral college for the Rajya Sabha election comprises the 230-member state assembly. With an effective strength of 229, a candidate needs 58 first-preference votes to be elected to the Upper House of Parliament.
The ruling BJP, possessing 164 MLAs, is guaranteed victory for two seats with 116 votes and has nominated national general secretary Tarun Chugh and state secretary Rajneesh Agrawal.
Additionally, the BJP has put forward Mahesh Kewat, chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Fishermen Welfare Board, as its third candidate.
The Congress has put forth former MP Meenakshi Natarajan and is confident of securing sufficient support for her election, while Kewat’s nomination adds a new layer to the competition.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) convened a meeting late Monday night at the residence of Opposition Leader Umang Singhar. Legislators were briefed on the plan to move them out of Madhya Pradesh until the election, sources indicate.
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All Congress MLAs are being relocated to Bengaluru in Karnataka, as confirmed by Saunsar legislator Vijay Revanath Choure to PTI.
Congress MLAs Yadavendra Singh and Babu Jandel also verified that the legislators are set to move to Karnataka.
LoP Singhar told PTI that the BJP is attempting to “buy” Congress MLAs and affirmed that all of them will be moved to a Congress-governed state.
He stated that some MLAs reported BJP members approached them with “bags full of notes,” but they rejected the offers.
The Congress leader maintained that the BJP’s “conspiracies” will not succeed on voting day.
Yadavendra Singh noted that while some MLAs were opposed to the move, since it was a decision from the party high command, all are complying.
He claimed that the BJP is trying to poach them, prompting top party leaders to decide on keeping the MLAs united in a Congress-ruled state.
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Opposition leaders allege that the BJP is trying to sow discord within the Congress party.
Of the three vacant seats in the state, the BJP is poised to easily win two, while the Congress holds an advantage in numbers for the third seat.
Nearly 60 Congress MLAs participated in the meeting at Singhar’s residence late Monday night. One MLA was absent due to being in Delhi, and senior leader Kamal Nath joined online.
At present, the effective strength of the 230-member state assembly stands at 229. The BJP has 164 MLAs, and the Congress has 64, while the Bharat Adivasi Party holds one seat. The membership of Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti from Datia constituency has been revoked, leaving one seat unoccupied.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has prohibited Mukesh Malhotra, Congress MLA from Vijaypur in Sheopur district, from voting.
A petition has also been filed in the High Court seeking the revocation of assembly membership for Nirmala Sapre, MLA from Bina in Sagar district, who is likely to vote for the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Sapre met with Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Monday.
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Given this context, the effective count for Congress could drop to 62, yet it would still have 4 more votes than necessary to secure victory.
Each candidate for the three Rajya Sabha seats requires 58 votes to win. Consequently, the BJP needs 116 votes to claim two seats. After collecting 116 out of their total 164 votes, the BJP will have 48 votes remaining.
The Congress party seems to be adopting a cautious stance, recalling the 2020 political crisis when the BJP destabilized the Kamal Nath-led government by bringing Jyotiraditya Scindia and 22 other MLAs over to their side. Scindia is now a minister in the NDA-led Union cabinet.
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