It Will Be Harivansh Vs Hariprasad As Rajya Sabha Votes For New Deputy Chief Today

Rajya Sabha will be witnessing a contest for the post of the Deputy Chairman today. The BJP-led NDA is fielding Harivansh Narayan Singh of JD(U) and combined Opposition had decided to pick B K Hariprasad of the Congress following the sudden decision of NCP‘s Vandana Chavan, who was earlier touted as the combined opposition candidate, to withdraw. The election comes a day before the monsoon session of Parliament will be coming to a close.

The last time there was an election to the post of Deputy Chairman, nearly 25 years back, Congress‘s Najma Heptullah won against the then combined opposition candidate Renuka Chowdhury of Telugu Desam Party. Ironically, both the candidates have since switched political allegiance. While Heptullah quit the Congress to join the BJP, Chowdhury switched loyalty to the Congress.

NDA floor managers in Rajya Sabha appeared to have a sigh of relief after reports emerged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar managed to secure the support of the BJD by reaching out to its president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. BJD, which has nine members in Rajya Sabha, will play a decisive role in determining the outcome.

According to The Hindu, BJP may have also managed to win the support of its allies —the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal. Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut and Akali Dal’s Sardar Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa are likely to propose Harivansh Singh’s name for the post.

BJP’s former ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will however back Hariprasad, the opposition candidate, the party said on Wednesday. "We have decided to support Congress leader BK Hariprasad," TDP leader Y S Choudhary confirmed.

The total strength of the Rajya Sabha is 244. PDP, with two members, has announced its decision to abstain from voting, effectively reducing the strength of the house to 242. NDA would need at least 122 votes to clinch the post.

NDA candidate Harivansh Singh is sure to get the backing of 91 NDA members, three nominated MPs and also that of rebel SP MP Amar Singh. It is likely that Harivansh Singh will even get the support of few non-NDA parties - AIADMK (13 members), TRS (six), YSRCP (two) and INLD (one) - adding up to 117. With the support of nine BJD MPs, Harivansh Singh is likely to get support of 126 MPs in total.

Hariprasad, on the other hand, has the support of 61 MPs of the Congress-led UPA, 13 members each of the TMC and the SP, six MPs of the TDP, five of the CPI(M), four each from the BSP and the DMK, two of the CPI and one MP of the JD(S), adding up to 109 members. One nominated and one independent member are likely to vote for Hariprasad, assuring him of the total support of 111members in the upper house.