Ambika, Kidwai get Congress RS tickets

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The Congress on Friday announced the candidature of Union minister Ambika Soni from Punjab and senior AICC general secretary Mohsina Kidwai from Chhattisgarh for the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha but there was no word yet on Union minister Anand Sharma.

The party also nominated former Union minister and in-charge of the central election committee of the Congress, Mr Oscar Fernandes, from Karnataka.
Ms Kidwai’s renomination has ended the speculation of her retirement and appointment as a governor. Now, she can be considered for a Cabinet berth keeping in mind the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Barring AICC secretary Avinash Pande from Maharashtra, the Congress high command renominated the party nominees from Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu, suggesting that its strategy this time is to maintain a status quo.
Accordingly, it renominated Mr Vijay Darda of the Lokmat group of newspapers from Maharashtra, Mr Dheeraj Prasad Sahu from Jharkhand and Dr E.M.S. Natchiappan from Tamil Nadu.
Mr Avinash Pande had unsuccessfully fought the Rajya Sabha elections from Maharashtra against industrialist Rahul Bajaj. Mr Bajaj had fought the elections as an Independent candidate and got the votes of the NCP, the Shiv Sena and the BJP.
The Congress high command gave a heavy representation to Vidarbha in the nomination with a strategy to check the demand of a separate Vidarbha state. This is because both Mr Darda and Mr Pande belong to the same region.
In the nomination to the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, the AICC fielded candidates from Mumbai and Pune and the third candidate is an outsider.
The guessing game still continues about from which state Mr Anand Sharma will contest. Mr Sharma, who hails from Himachal Pradesh and whose term in the Rajya Sabha has already come to an end, may be nominated from either Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, party sources said. A final decision is likely any time, they said. He should get elected to retain his place in the Union Cabinet.
Elections are being held for 55 Upper House seats while voting for 49 seats from 12 states will take place on June 17. Polling for six seats from Andhra Pradesh will be held on June 14.
Election will also be held for the remaining term of a seat from Rajasthan which fell vacant due to the death of Krishan Lal Balmiki.