Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is likely to file her nomination for the Rajya Sabha election from Rajasthan on Wednesday. Reports claim that Sonia left her residence early in the morning as she will be travelling to Rajasthan today. The Rajya Sabha election is to be held on February 27. On Monday, after a high-level meeting of the party leaders attended by Mallikarjun Kharge, Mukul Wasnik, Ajay Maken, Salman Khurshid, KC Venugopal, it was indicated that Sonia Gandhi may shift to the upper house leaving the poll fray for the first time.
Sources reveal that Sonia Gandhi’s decision to shift to the Rajya Sabha is based on health grounds as she can’t visit her constituency frequently. Apart from Rajasthan, the party had Himachal Pradesh as an option for Sonia Gandhi, but Gandhi chose Rajasthan over Himachal Pradesh, reports said.
Sonai Gandhi was elected from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi and Karnataka’s Bellary in 1999 and she retained Amethi among the two. In 2004, Sonia Gandhi contested from Rae Bareli vacating Amethi for Rahul Gandhi.
According to reports, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge will also be present when she files the nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections. The last date for the nomination is February 15. A total of 56 members of Rajya Sabha from 15 states are retiring in April, including Manmohan Singh who was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had also been a member of the Rajya Sabha August 1964 to February 1967 making Sonia Gandhi the second member of the Gandhi family to enter the Rajya Sabha.
Meanwhile in Madhya Pradesh, BJP and Congress can announce their candidates today. Five Rajya Sabha seats are falling vacant in April, due to which elections are to be held in the end of February. 15th February i.e. tomorrow is the last date for nomination, hence there are speculations that both the parties will announce their candidates today.
In Madhya Pradesh Assembly, out of five Rajya Sabha seats, one seat is seen going to Congress’s account and four seats are seen going to BJP’s account. Bharatiya Janata Party has announced its Rajya Sabha name in most of the states, but has not yet announced the name in Madhya Pradesh. Among the four Rajya Sabha seats going to BJP, some names may also be from outside MP.
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