BJP gained critical ground in Upper House but ‘fails to destabilise’ Congress-led Rajasthan govt

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 20

Elections to the 19 Rajya Sabha seats on Friday saw the ruling BJP winning two in Madhya Pradesh and the rival Congress one. In Rajasthan, the fortunes reversed with the BJP bagging one seat and the Congress two.

Overall, the ruling party managed to gain crucial ground in the Upper House, winning eight of the 19 seats in the first major electoral exercise since the COVID-19 outbreak, however, it failed to get that one extra seat from Rajasthan amid allegations of “poaching” by the Congress ahead of crucial polls.

Earlier, it had won three seats unopposed.

To say the BJP did not try a Madhya Pradesh or a Karnataka in Rajasthan to win one extra seat from Rajasthan is difficult to believe as much as its leaders may deny, observers say. Otherwise, why would it have fielded a second candidate knowing well it did not have the numbers?

Its second candidate in Rajasthan lost on Friday.

Interestingly, despite “rumours” of various shades and sorts, including that Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot “hobnobbing” with the BJP, the general consensus was that even if the saffron party was trying a Madhya Pradesh or a Karnataka in Rajasthan, it will not be as easy.

The Congress had publicly made the allegations of attempts by the BJP to lure its MLAs and destabilise its government in Rajasthan on the lines of Madhya Pradesh.

There could be many reasons why it may not have succeeded, observers say.

One, Madhya Pradesh is the ‘garh’, the bastion, of the BJP and its ideological fountainhead, the RSS. The same cannot be said for Rajasthan.

Then, the Congress Chief Minister in Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, is a “seasoned and shrewd” politician.  He has been a student leader, the state party president, MLA, Lok Sabha MP, Union Minister and is the CM for the third time in the state.

“Gehlot is someone who has seen it all unlike Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh whose area of influence was limited to Chhindwara,” they say.

Besides, unlike Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot was given important positions in the state by his Central leadership. He is the Deputy CM and also the president of the state Congress.

Also, the gap between the BJP and the Congress is bigger in Rajasthan and the state unit is “not as divided” as it was in Madhya Pradesh which has least four different camps operating in it.

The saffron party had challenged Gehlot to prove the allegations that it is trying to “destabilise his government and indulging in poaching” ahead of the Rajya Sabha poll. It had blamed his trouble on “internal differences” in the party.

Observers, who claim that “signs of ‘Operation Lotus’ were all there in Rajasthan, say “it is possible that Gehlot may have been trying to increase his importance in eyes of the central leadership”.

“He has good relations across the party lines,” they say.

This even as BJP’s friend-turned-foe Shiv Sena also accused it of trying to destabilise the Rajasthan government during the pandemic.

“There are also rumours that Sachin Pilot met the BJP bigwigs in Delhi. It may be wrong, but this is like a warning bell for the Congress camp,” Shiv Sena had warned in its mouthpiece Saamana.

Meanwhile, the BJP-led NDA as taken its tally to 101 in the 245-member Upper House with the majority mark of 123.

Elections to 24 seats in 10 states were initially scheduled for March 26, but they were deferred due to COVID-19 lockdown.

Four candidates in Karnataka, including former PM HD Devegowda, and one in Arunachal Pradesh were elected unopposed.

Polling of remaining seats was held on Friday. Altogether, the NDA won 11 of the 24 seats.

Backed by parties such as the BJD, the ADMK and the YSR Congress Party, it can breach the halfway mark and push key legislations easily.