RS POLL RESULTS WILL BOOST NDA PROSPECTS

Politics is a game of strange bedfellows. In rajneeti, it’s not over till it’s over. The Saffron party’s strength in (state) assemblies suggested that the party could retain only 20 of the 24 Rajya Sabha seats it held in the biennial polls for 57 seats but as the (electoral) process got over and on Saturday it was realised that the BJP finally won 22 and also ensured victory of an Independent, underlining its masterstroke, pull among unaffiliated legislators and disaffected lawmakers obviously in the Opposition camp.

As it is said in cricket that the match is not over till the last ball is bowled, the BJP’s better-than-expected show is a boost to the ruling National Democratic Alliance ahead of the President’s poll, and is an obvious blow to its rivals, as the Rajya Sabha elections have again highlighted dissension and lack of cohesion among the Opposition ranks.

The BJP’s ambitious efforts to force a contest in these states besides Rajasthan by backing Independents or putting its own candidates to benefit from division in the ranks of its rivals have paid dividends as it bagged one extra seat each in all states barring Rajasthan.

Astute politician and Congress veteran and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot not only managed to keep his flock of its supporting MLAs together but also embarrassed the BJP by wooing over one of its MLAs to foil the saffron party’s efforts to get an independent, outgoing MP and media baron Subhash Chandra, elected.

BJP is obviously happy with the outcome, especially in Maharashtra where the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition of the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress suffered a setback despite being at the helm of power with the BJP bagging three of the six seats at stake!

It is also a boost to BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has had his share of setbacks since losing power in the state as he who outsmarted and checkmated the Shiv Sena.

BJP also bagged three of the four seats in Karnataka as its rivals the Congress and the JD(S) could not come to a pact and fought separately and thus lost.

Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda suffered a blow as the party’s nominee Ajay Maken lost, with one of its MLAs, Kuldeep Bishnoi, voting for the BJP-backed independent Kartikeya Sharma, also a media entrepreneur, and the vote of another MLA turning out to be invalid.

LOSS OF FACE FOR HOODA Hooda failed in his first test after getting complete control of the party after the recent overhauling of Congress but also in ensuring that all legislators’ votes were cast properly; while the crossvoting by Kuldeep Bishnoi, a known Hooda detractor, was a clear writing on the wall, another Congress vote was also found to be invalid that led to Maken’s defeat.

THE BISHNOI FACTOR Even as the visibly annoyed Congress high command has expelled Bishnoi from all the party posts for his cross-voting and now if he pulls the plug on the party… it would not only dent the Grand Old Party’s non-Jat vote-bank in Haryana but also make things hugely difficult for Hooda within the party. Bishnoi, a four-time MLA and two-time MP, is younger son of former Congress chief minister late Bhajan Lal who is till date the tallest non-Jat leader of the state who was Haryana CM for three times and also Union minister.

Ahead of the presidential poll, which is scheduled for July 18 if more than one person is in fray, the Rajya Sabha results are a morale booster to the ruling combine.

In an electoral college of around 10.86 lakh votes, the BJP-led alliance is estimated to have more than 48 per cent of votes and is hopeful that non-aligned regional parties like YSR Congress and the BJD will now support it.

MAMATA’S FRESH BID Meanwhile, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has invited leaders of 19 political parties on June 15 to discuss the upcoming presidential election.

Mamata said the election gives the “perfect opportunity for all progressive opposition parties” to discuss the future course of Indian politics. “At a time when our democracy is going through troubling times, I believe that a fruitful confluence of opposition voices is the need of the hour,” she added.

Banerjee addressed the letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray, Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Pinarayi Vijayan.

Her attempt is seen as a move to expand TMC’s national footprint after the party’s massive win in the crucial 2021 Assembly elections.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

ROBIN ROY The writer is Senior Associate Editor, Free Press Journal, Mumbai and former Managing Editor, First India