Ranchi, June 18 (IANS) Jharkhand may have been carved out to promote the local population, but the state is largely represented by outsiders in the Rajya Sabha.
Of the six Rajya Sabha MPs, four are from outside the state.
While two Rajya Sabha MPs each are from the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one belongs to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and another is an independent.
Congress MP Mabel Rebello and BJP’s S.S. Ahluwalia are outsiders. JMM’s K.D. Singh is a Chandigarh-based industrialist who has said that he wants to set up hospitals in Ranchi and Dumka.
Independent MP Parimal Nathwani is a businessman from Gujarat.
Some politicians say there is nothing wrong if people from outside Jharkhand get elected from the state.
Jharkhand Congress general secretary Shailesh Sinha told IANS: ‘In Rajya Sabha elections, boundaries do not matter. The only thing that matters is social and political background.
‘A dedicated party leader can be nominated from any state. No hue and cry should be made if a businessman wants to work for the state and gets elected to the Rajya Sabha. We are against those businessmen who enter the Rajya Sabha without doing anything for the state,’ he said.
But the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P), which was against Singh’s nomination, said that only people of the state should be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
‘We are not in favour of importing businessmen,’ said Pradeep Yadav, the JVM-P legislature party leader.
