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Manmohan Singh set to retain State RS seat

By Spl Correspondent

NEW DELHI, May 2 � Lobbying for the two Rajya Sabha seats is all set to gather momentum, with the Election Commission on Thursday issuing announcing election to the seats held by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Kumar Deepak Das. The ruling alliance, led by Congress party, is set to corner both the seats.

The term of office of two members of the Council of States from Assam is due to expire on June 14.

The Election Commission has decided to hold the biennial election to the Council of States from the State of Assam, to fill the two vacancies.

The formal notification is scheduled to be issued on May 13 setting the election process in motion. The last date of filing notification is May 20 and scrutiny would take place the next day. The last date of withdrawal is May 23 and the date of polls is May 30. The counting would take place the same day and the entire election process is scheduled to be completed by June 3.

The fate of the Opposition parties appears to be sealed, as the ruling Congress party, with 79 MLAs along with its allies and associate members, is comfortably placed to wrest both the seats. The BPF has 12 MLAs and the Congress party has support of the three Independent MLAs taking its total strength to 94, while the ruling clich� needs 86 seats to retain both seats, said a Congress leader.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has already offered Dr Manmohan Singh his Rajya Sabha seat, while the APCC is likely to seek applications from interested candidates for the other seat.

Given its numerical strength, the Chief Minister is pressing the AICC high command to nominate candidates for both the seats.

When contacted, PCC president Bhubaneswar Kalita said that though they have not sought any applications, he has received at least six applications from aspirants. �We are planning to forward all the applications to the AICC for scrutiny and selection,� he said.

The only game spoiler for Gogoi could be the dissident MLAs, who may use the occasion to bargain with the Chief Minister.

A disgruntled MLA told this newspaper that while they would unanimously support the candidature of the Prime Minister, they are likely to seek a consensus on the second candidate. This camp is toying with the idea of fielding former Lok Sabha MP Kirip Chaliha as its preferred choice.

On the other hand, a member belonging to Gogoi�s camp said that as is the practice, the CLP would authorise Congress president Sonia Gandhi to select the Rajya Sabha candidate.

While the game plan is being plotted, various camps have started lobbying for nomination. A delegation of the Asam Chah Mazdoor Sangh and INTUC recently met AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh to lobby for nomination of a representative from the tea community. A lobby representing Barak Valley has also sought nomination from the region.

Meanwhile, several aspirants have started landing in the National Capital to lobby for nomination. Those in the race included Dwijen Sharma, Bishnu Prasad, Dr Hemo Prova Saikia, Dr Haren Das, Bolin Kuli, Bharat Narah, Karnendu Bhattacharjee, among others.

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