Raipur, June 1 (IANS) Chhattisgarh’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to give tribal leader Nand Kumar Sai another term in the Rajya Sabha while the Congress is yet to finalise its candidate for the elections to the upper house of parliament June 17.
The mineral-rich state has two vacancies in the Rajya Sabha with BJP’s Sai and Congress’ Mohsina Kidwai completing their tenure.
Both the parties will share one seat each as the BJP has 48 members in the 90-member assembly while the Congress has 39; one seat is vacant and the remaining two seats are held by the Bahujan Samaj Party.
BJP leaders said the party had decided to give 64-year-old Sai another term. The tribal veteran is from the vast northern Surguja region and is largely seen as a dissident.
He will file four sets of nomination papers Wednesday here.
However, uncertainty reigns in the Congress camp with several leaders, included nine-time Congress MP V.C. Shukla and his arch rival and state’s first chief minister Ajit Jogi lobbying hard for the Rajya Sabha berth.
There are also indications that other influential party members not from the state are eyeing the seat.
