New Delhi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, after a meeting with Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Saturday, said he has given her the details about the Rajya Sabha elections. There are two Rajya Sabha seats in the state, and the two leaders had a discussion about that. All the details over the matter will be released soon, he said, news agency ANI reported.
As per reports, the Congress has been eyeing fielding their candidate for the Rajya Sabha berth from Jharkhand. Chief Minister Hemant Soren held a discussion over fielding a common candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat from the Congress – Jharkhand Mukti Morcha – Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance.
According to a report by news agency PTI, two seats of Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand will be going to the elections as the tenures of Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and BJP MP Mahesh Poddar are expiring on July 7.
“The legislative party has unanimously decided that JMM will field its candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls at any cost. The party expects support from Congress. We want that there should be a single Grand Alliance candidate for the polls,” PTI quoted JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya as saying.
It is to be noted that JMM has 30 members in the state assembly, while Congress has 17 MLAs. The main opposition BJP in Jharkhand has 26 MLAs.
Notably, the biennial elections to the 57 Rajya Sabha seats are set to be held on June 10.
The Rajya Sabha elections were necessitated as 57 members from 15 states will be retiring between June and August. The last date for filing of nomination is May 31.