Economic Times, June 26, 2019
Congress is looking at fielding former PM Manmohan Singh for Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. Singh’s term as an Upper House MP from Assam ended earlier this month and since then Congress has been looking for options to send him back to the House.
A vacancy has arisen in the state after the death of BJP Rajasthan president and Rajya Sabha MP Madan Lal Saini on Monday. Saini was elected to Rajya Sabha in April 2018 and his term was to end in April 2024. There is a Congress government in the state and if elections take place Congress is likely to win the Rajya Sabha seat.
Though no official word has come from Congress, party sources told ET that party may consider fielding Manmohan Singh from the seat.
Earlier, senior party leader Ahmed Patel had earlier sought cooperation from DMK in Tamil Nadu to send Singh to Rajya Sabha from the state. Currently there are six vacancies in the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu for which elections are going to take place on July 18. DMK can win three out of the six seats with its current strength of the MLAs. Despite Patel’s request, DMK was finding it tough to accommodate Manmohan Singh as the party wants to give one seat to Vaiko of MDMK.
Now, a decision on Manmohan Singh shall be taken after meeting of party leaders with Congress president Rahul Gandhi in coming days. “ This could be one of the options but nothing is decided as of now and a decision will be taken once notifications come for the seat,” said a Congress leader.
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