P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal in Rajya Sabha could boost Congress attack

One Congress party nomination to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka has been left to the party general secretary, PCC chief and CLP leader to decide.

If P. Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal enter the Rajya Sabha, and Jairam Ramesh enters a third time, it will strengthen the party’s attack on the government in the Upper House where the NDA lacks a majority. Mr Ramesh has been a RS member since 2004, without a break.

Former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde and former party MP Bhalchandra Mungekar were among a large number of party leaders lobbying for the lone seat from Maharashtra. AICC secretary Avinash Pandey is the retiring member from the state.

Mr Tankha is a senior advocate and Mr Tamta is known to be loyal to Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat. Ms Soni’s renomination from Punjab was a forgone conclusion in view of the Assembly election in the state next year. She is the chairperson of the campaign committee. Mr Fernandes, renominated from Karnataka since 1998, is on the board of Young Indian Pvt. Ltd, which looks after the National Herald. Mr Sibal’s nomination surprised many because the high command denied the claim of Gandhi-Nehru family friend Capt. Satish Sharma.

Mr Ramesh had been at the forefront of the attack on the NDA government over the Land Ordinance Bill and on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the alleged GSPC scam when he was rural development minister in the UPA government.