Jharkhand chief minister and JMM executive president Hemant Soren announced on Monday afternoon JMM’s women wing president Mahua Maji as Rajya Sabha candidate from the state barely 48 hours after meeting Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Delhi.
The announcement dashed Congress Jharkhand leadership’s hope, ignited after nearly hour-long meeting between Sonia and Soren in Delhi on Saturday night, of a common Grand Alliance candidate for Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand.
“The announcement has been made by JMM and we have nothing to comment on it. As an alliance we had hopes and we feel that there is contradiction between the talks that transpired between Sonia ji and Hemant ji and today’s announcement,” said Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur at Ranchi at 4pm, two hours after the announcement by Soren at the chief minister’s residence in Ranchi.
BJP candidate Aditya Sahu. Manob Chowdhury
Asked whether the Congress will field its own candidate, which would lead to an election, for the Rajya Sabha seat from Jharkhand, Thakur put the onus on the central leadership.
“Our state in-charge (Avinash Pande) will be meeting Soniaji on Monday evening and they would take a decision on whether we should field a candidate or not,” said Thakur.
Significantly, the Congress had announced in media earlier this month that they would seek support from the ruling alliance partner JMM’s support for its candidates for Rajya Sabha berth.
The BJP central leadership had announced in Delhi on Sunday evening about Ranchi-based trader Aditya Sahu, 58, as the party candidate for the Upper House. Aditya Sahu had unsuccessfully contested for Silli Assembly seats in 2009 and fared poorly.
JMM candidate Mahua Maji. Manob Chowdhury
Incidentally, two seats of Jharkhand are among the 57 Rajya Sabha seats that fell vacant from 15 states after members are retiring between June and August.
In Jharkhand, both BJP Upper House members Mahesh Poddar and Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (elected in 2016) terms are expiring. The election would be held on June 10 and the last date for filing of nomination is May 31.
“Election would only be necessitated if there are more than two candidates in fray from Jharkhand. With only a day to go for filing of nomination, it appears that both Mahua Maji and Aditya
Sahu would be elected uncontested.
“If the Congress do pitches in for its own candidate then the rule of second preference would come into play leading to election,” said a Congress veteran agreeing that as on Monday evening, party seems to have decided to throw in the towel for Rajya Sabha berth from Jharkhand.
In the last election held in 2020, Congress candidate Shahzada Anwar had to face defeat.
While JMM supremo Shibu Soren won the other seat, BJP’s current state president Deepak Prakash was victorious in other.
Significantly, in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, JMM has 30 MLAs, Congress 17 (after Bandhu Tirkey disqualification) and RJD 1, which puts them in a position of 49 while 41 is required for majority. Opposition BJP has 26 while its ally Ajsu has 2 seats.
Maji, 56, who had been state women’s commission during Soren’s tenure as the chief minister and had also contested unsuccessfully twice (2014, 2019) for the Ranchi Assembly on JMM ticket, told The Telegraph, “I am thankful to my party for reposing faith on my abilities. I will try to raise pertinent issues of my state in Parliament.”
