New Delhi: Elections to many Rajya Sabha seats are due very soon. The polls are crucial for the BJP and NDA because they seek to attain a simple majority in the Upper House to smoother the process of passing bills. It is also crucial for the Congress as the party is now fighting for political elegance and survival with its back against the wall. The nomination of “outsiders” by the party high command has led to barely concealed criticism and protests by leaders in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana.
Apart from Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka, these are the only states where the Congress has enough MLAs in a position to get its Rajya Saha nominees elected. But the BJP has set the cat among the pigeons by supporting “independent” candidates and media owners Subhas Chandra and Kartikeya Sharma from Rajasthan and Haryana, respectively. Fearful of shock defeat, the Congress party has corralled all its MLAs in Rajasthan and Haryana and parked them in five-star luxury resorts till voting for the Rajya Sabha elections begin. CVoter conducted a nationwide survey on behalf of IANS to find out what ordinary Indians felt about this latest move of the Congress party to confine its MLAs in luxury resorts as it seems to avoid any poaching or defections. People were asked a simple question during the survey: Do you think this mode displays nervousness and insecurity by the Congress? Overall, 63 per cent of the respondents agreed with this contention, while just 21 per cent said the Congress is not nervous or insecure. What should worry strategists in the Congress even more is the fact that 58.5 per cent of the opposition supporters agreed with the contention, while merely 23 per cent disagreed.For a party that states now at regular revolts and exits, this public perception doesn’t augur well for its future.—IANS