Rajya Sabha Election for Madhya Pradesh's Three Seats Scheduled for June 18
The Election Commission on Friday announced that elections for 24 Rajya Sabha seats will be held on June 18, with three of these seats coming from Madhya Pradesh. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to send two members to the Upper House, while the opposition Congress party will secure one seat. The vacancies arise due to the completion of terms of Union Minister of State for Fisheries and Animal Husbandry George Kurien, BJP's Sumer Singh Solanki, and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh.
Nomination and Polling Schedule
The nomination process for the Rajya Sabha elections will commence on June 1 and conclude on June 8. If required, polling will take place between 9 am and 4 pm on June 18, with the entire election process wrapping up by June 20. In Madhya Pradesh, it is highly probable that all three new members will be elected unopposed.
Strength of Parties in Madhya Pradesh Assembly
The Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly comprises 230 members. The BJP holds 165 seats, while the Congress has 64 seats. One seat is occupied by the Bharatiya Adivasi Party. The magic number required to win a Rajya Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh is 58. With 165 MLAs, the BJP can comfortably secure two seats, requiring 116 votes, leaving them with 49 surplus MLAs. The Congress, with 64 MLAs, faces some complications: one MLA, Rajendra Bharti from Datia, was disqualified after being sentenced to three years in a bank fraud case, leaving the party with 63 MLAs. However, two more MLAs are unable to vote: Congress MLA from Vijaypur, Mukesh Malhotra, cannot vote due to Supreme Court directions, and another Congress MLA, Nirmala Sapre, defected and publicly joined a BJP election meeting in May 2024, with her case sub judice in the Jabalpur High Court. Thus, the Congress effectively has 62 voting MLAs.
Congress Confident of Sending One MP Unopposed
Despite these challenges, the Congress party remains confident. State Congress media department chairman and former minister Mukesh Nayak stated, "We are confident and will send our MP to the Upper House." He dismissed any possibility of cross-voting, noting that those who left Congress for BJP have suffered immensely and that none of their MLAs would go against the party. Congress MP Digvijaya Singh had announced in January that he would vacate his Rajya Sabha seat, so the party will need to field a new candidate.
BJP's Strategy and Potential for Third Seat
State BJP spokesman Ajay Singh Yadav said, "The state party election committee will hold its meeting soon and send a list of names to the central leadership. The final names will be decided in New Delhi." When asked about the possibility of the BJP eyeing the Congress seat, Yadav remarked, "After sending both members to the Upper House, we will still have an excess of 49 MLAs, while Congress will have four. If there is a situation of dispute and break within the Congress party due to factional politics, then the BJP leadership may take a call. But nothing of that nature is under consideration right now."
