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| Rat 'race' among Congress leaders begins for the vacant seat of Upper House | | | Kunal Shrivatsa
Jammu, June 7: With a seat in Legislative Council (LC) falling vacant on April 1 last, a rat race has begun within a section of leaders in the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) with these leaders vying to become a member of Upper House.
Sources within Congress said that several aspirants are indulging in hectic lobbying for the single Legislative Council seat, which fell vacant after the retirement of Congress leader Subhash Gupta. It is believed that days ahead would generate more political heat as the aspirants might start maneuvering to secure party mandate.
"The vacant Legislative Council seat is one among the eight seats which comes under the nomination category. The seat is scheduled to be filled in the near future. Many aspirants in Congress from Jammu as well as Kashmir regions are making all out efforts in projecting themselves as a prospective candidate," said sources.
Sources said that Congress, which is the claimant to the LC seat under seat sharing agreement with National Conference, this time, may give mandate to some Kashmir based leader.
"Subhash Gupta remained MLC as a nominated member from Jammu province over and above the quota of nominations which was a deviation from the routine of equal distribution of four seats each among the two major regions of the state," said sources.
"Jammu scored over Kashmir region in the previous arrangement as last time five out of eight MLCs got nominated from Jammu but this time the party is most likely to fill the vacancy by nominating a leader from Kashmir," they said, adding this is being done to appease the party voices from Kashmir and in a bid to make grounds in Valley before Assembly polls.
Sources said number of leaders staking claim to the seat include ex-MP Choudhary Lal Singh, former MLA from Bani, Prem Sagar Aziz and Subhash Gupta and a surprise name of PCC General Secretary Shamima Raina, who is considered close to PCC president Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz.
"Shamima Raina, a Kashmir based leader is one among the front runners for the seat. Raina, a close confidante of Soz, could be the dark horse since she is being backed by none other than the party president, who also wants that his loyalist gets accommodated on this seat," said sources.
Sources further said that the candidature of Choudhary Lal Singh and Subhash Gupta is almost ruled out for different reasons. Taking notice of Lal Singh's self imposed hibernation in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress leadership is unlikely to give him any leverage for the time being, sources said.
"Before the Lok Sabha polls, the party had assured Lal Singh to accommodate him in Legislative Council as he was denied party mandate for Udhampur Parliamentary constituency but now party is not in a mood to provide olive branch to former MP as he remained inactive throughout the Lok Sabha polls. His negative role in the elections particularly in Udhampur is out in the open. Subhash Gupta is also not likely to get favours as party doesn't want a repetition," said sources. |
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