New Delhi: The Congress strategists on Monday got down to micro-managing the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls with AICC Observers set to meet party MLAs in Rajasthan, Haryana and Maharashtra soon. The Congress is facing the threat of poaching of its MLAs in the three states from the BJP, which is supporting 2 independent candidates in Rajasthan and Haryana.
According to sources, AICC Observer for Haryana Rajeev Shukla has flown to Chhattisgarh capital Raipur on Monday to meet the 28 Congress MLAs who have been hosted by the Bhupesh Baghel government at a resort to keep them 'safe'. Shukla was recently elected unopposed as a Rajya Sabha member from Chhattisgarh and is also in charge of poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, where assembly elections will be held later this year.
Party’s Rajya Sabha nominee from Haryana Ajay Maken reached Raipur on Sunday. Both Shukla and Maken are supposed to interact with the MLAs and convince them to vote in favour of the party nominee only. The Congress has 32 MLAs in Haryana. Out of which 2, Kuldeep Bishnoi and Kiran Chaudhary are not on board as they are opposed to the camp of CLP leader BS Hooda, who is practically in charge for the crucial Rajya Sabha polls from the northern state.
Sources said Bishnoi is likely to meet Rahul Gandhi on Monday and pledge his support for Maken, something he has avoided doing so far. Bishnoi has a grudge that he was left out in the recent revamp of the Haryana unit by the high command in which Hooda aide Udai Bhan was named the new state unit chief.
Kiran Chaudhary too has some issues with Hooda which can be easily resolved, said the sources. The other problem state for the Congress managers is Rajasthan, where the ruling party has been forced to herd its MLAs into a hotel in Udaipur. Sources said that AICC Observers for Rajasthan Pawan Bansal and TS Singh Deo will soon reach Udaipur to meet the party lawmakers and ensure that the flock stays together.
As a matter of caution, the Rajasthan Congress unit has also approached the state Anti-Corruption Bureau and complained that the BJP may try to lure its lawmakers with money. The Congress managers said they were confident of the victory of three nominees for Rajya Sabha, Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari but did not want to take any chances.
Wasnik had reached Udaipur on Sunday to brief the MLAs on the procedures for the RS polls. The AICC Observer for Maharashtra Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, will reach Mumbai on Tuesday where he will meet all the senior leaders including the MLAs to ensure a smooth sail for party nominee Imran Pratapgarhi, said the sources.
The nomination of Pratapgarhi, who belongs to UP and is chairman of the AICC Minority Department, has upset many party leaders in Maharashtra who feel that a local should have been fielded for the contest. Kharge has been in charge of Maharashtra earlier and knows all the senior leaders personally. This, said the sources, would help him put across the party view that all the MLAs must support Pratapgarhi in the Rajya Sabha polls.
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