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Rajya Sabha nominations: Ajay Maken, Randeep Surjewala gain, Kumari Selja left in cold
Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, May 30
Congress general secretaries Ajay Maken and Randeep Singh Surjewala have gained big in the party's Rajya Sabha (RS) nomination process for the June 10 elections while former ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kumari Selja and Anand Sharma remain in the cold for now.
Maken bagged a nomination from Haryana amid talks of Selja and Anand Sharma also being in the race. Two RS seats are falling vacant in Haryana on August 1, with the Congress sure of winning one.
In a 90 member state assembly, the quota for winning a seat is 31 MLAs. The Congress has 31 MLAs.
Maken, 58, is a three-term former MLA from Delhi and a two-term Lok Sabha MP who defeated BJP stalwarts Jagmohan and Vijay Kumar Goel in his time. Once elected, Maken would be serving his first RS term, with the All India Congress Committee (AICC) sources saying the Congress decided to bat on a Punjabi Hindu in Haryana to strike a community balance amid growing non-Jat consolidation.
Selja, ex- president Haryana Congress, is a tall SC leader but party president Sonia Gandhi recently appointed Udai Bhan, another Dalit leader, as the state chief while ex chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda continues to represent Jats as leader of opposition in the Haryana assembly.
The choice of Maken from Haryana became easy as he hails from Delhi, which was originally part of undivided Punjab much like Haryana. The party expects Maken to represent Haryana's Punjabis. State CM ML Khattar is a Punjabi too.
Surjewala, 54, was long expected to enter the RS and his prospects had brightened soon after he agreed to the Jind bypoll on the asking of the then Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. Surjewala lost and later contested from Kaithal, losing again by a slim margin.
However, the former Haryana minister's position in the Congress hierarchy continued to rise and grow after he was sent to Rajasthan to manage the crisis that emerged from the rebellion of former deputy CM Sachin Pilot.
The Congress quelled the revolt and saved its government. Surjewala's role in the crisis management and proximity to CM Ashok Gehlot explain his nomination from Rajasthan where out of three seats falling vacant on July 4, the Congress is set to win two and may win the third.
The Congress has also fielded AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik and UP leader Pramod Tewari from the state, causing consternation for nominating all outsiders.
Congress spokesperson and party leader from Rajasthan Pawan Khera expressed disappointment saying, "Perhaps I fell short in my commitment."
Gehlot aide and MLA Shyam Lodha also asked on Twitter as to why the Congress could not find a single nominee from Rajasthan.
As for Surjewala, his nomination was given after serial promotions recently. He had emerged the top gainer in the AICC's September 2020 overhaul when he was elevated as AICC general secretary Karnataka; made a regular Congress Working Committee member and included in a panel to assist Congress president while already being Congress media chief.
Both Maken and Surjewala, considered close to Rahul Gandhi, are also part of Sonia Gandhi-appointed task force for 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
G 23 members and ex ministers Anand Sharma and Ghulam Nabi Azad have been left out of the race for now, though two other G 23 members -- AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik and Digvijay Singh confidante Vivek Tankha have been nominated to the RS.