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Elections to three Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat will be held on June 8, along with polls for seven other seats in the Upper House of Parliament that are falling vacant in other states in the coming months.
According to sources, the six-year term of three Rajya Sabha members from the State — Union Minister Smriti Irani, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel and BJP MP Dilip Pandya — will come to an end in August.
The Election Commission of India had, on Wednesday, said election to 10 seats in the Rajya Sabha from across the country will be held on June 8, for which a formal notification would be issued on May 22, sources said here on Thursday.
Out of the 10 retiring members, four are from Trinamool Congress, three from Congress, two from BJP and one from the CPI (M).
In Gujarat, these polls have become crucial both for the ruling BJP and the main Opposition Congress Party, as Assembly elections are due later this year. Any upset for the Congress in Rajya Sabha polls could impact the Vidhan Sabha polls as well.
The Congress is expected to re-nominate Ahmed Patel, Political Secretary to the party President, Sonia Gandhi. If elected, it will be his sixth term in the Upper House of Parliament.
The BJP, set to win two of the three Rajya Sabha seats, is likely to field Irani again as without being an MP she cannot continue as a Union Minister. For the second seat, the party is likely to “spring a surprise”, party sources said. Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley is also an Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat.
However, in view of Leader of the Opposition in Vidhan Sabha, Shankarsinh Vaghela’s ‘activities’ in recent past, which have jittered the Congress leadership, some more surprises are also expected.
A former RSS-BJP strongman and an ex-CM, Vaghela is said to have strong support of 26 out of 57 Congress MLAs. If he ‘returns home’ to the BJP along with his flock, as is being widely speculated, the Congress may end up with egg in the face — in that event, even Patel may lose his seat while the BJP may try to win the third seat as well.
According to some reports, Vaghela, if he rejoins the BJP, he may be offered either a gubernatorial office or chairmanship of a central PSU. His son Mahendrasinh, Congress MLA, is also expected to be accommodated in the BJP Government in Gujarat, while his supporting MLAS may be given the BJP tickets.
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