Maharashtra Cong opposes Anand Sharma for RS

The Maharashtra unit of the Congress party is divided over the nomination of Commerce Minister Anand Sharma to the Rajya Sabha from the state.

The party, with its strength of 82 in the state assembly, is sure of winning two of the six seats for which elections are scheduled on June 17. However, the party faces burgeoning opposition from state leaders and ministers against the nomination of Sharma, whose election to the upper house is a must to retain his ministership.

In the past the party had nominated Vishwajit Singh twice from the state, while a high-profile member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Rajeev Shukla, was elected to the upper house for one term.

A senior minister in the Ashok Chavan-led cabinet, on condition of anonymity, said, "It's ironical that instead of nominating party loyalists and deserving candidates from Maharashtra, the Congress leadership is actively considering Sharma's candidature. The central leadership is taking Maharashtra for granted by giving the ticket to an outsider. If the party nominates Sharma, it will give a readymade plank to the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena that the Congress party has made Maharashtra a dumping ground for outsiders."

The minister said the central leadership could also consider nominating Sharma from Punjab, Haryana or Rajasthan. The high command, he said, should take the views of state leaders into consideration before deciding. He said the view was that such outsiders fail to connect with state leaders and party workers.

Two seats became vacant due to the appointment of party veteran Shivraj Patil as Punjab governor and the term of incumbent Vijay Darda getting over. "The list of aspirants is quite huge. Some of the names include that of former central minister Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, former state minister Hussain Dalwai and, former legislator Muzaffar Hussain. Besides, Darda, who enjoys direct rapport with 10, Janpath (the top authority in Delhi), is quite keen for his renomination. The party will have to take a call and nominate somebody from Maharashtra, so that it will send a positive signal among the rank and file," he said.

The party's ally, the Nationalist Congress Party, with its strength of 62 seats in the assembly, is also eager to contest for two seats with the support of independents and like-minded parties. The term of party MP Tariq Anwar and the party-supported independent and industrialist, Rahul Bajaj, is over. A NCP leader said party chief Sharad Pawar may renominate Anwar from the state, especially with assembly elections in Bihar (where he comes from) scheduled for October-November this year. Besides, the names of leading lawyer Majeed Memon and party leader from North Maharashtra, Ishwar Jain, are at the forefront.

The Shiv Sena was expected to renominate Sanjay Raut, whose term has got over. The Bharatiya Janata Party may field national party president Nitin Gadkari's confidant, Piyush Goyal.