NDA’s Harivansh set to win Rajya Sabha poll with Naveen help

New Delhi: JD(U) leader Harivansh Narain Singh will take on the Congress’ B.K. Hariprasad in the election for Rajya Sabha deputy chairman on Thursday.

Odisha CM and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said his party would extend support to the NDA candidate. The CM made his party's stand clear after returning to Bhubaneswar from Mumbai on Wednesday evening.

“My party will support NDA nominee. I have conveyed our stand to PM Narendra Modi a few days before” he said. Both the NDA and the Congress-led Opposition had left no stone unturned to woo the wily six-time Odisha CM, with even Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly calling him to seek support. Mr Patnaik, on his part, spent the entire day holed up in Mumbai. Most of his MPs were clueless about his intentions.

If the BJD abstains, it would be advantage Opposition, but if it votes for the NDA candidate and helps him win, it would be taking a definitive side ahead of the 2019 general election, and will send a crucial message to his electorate. The third option of voting for the Opposition candidate has been already ruled out by sources.

Mr Patnaik’s party has been fencing with both the BJP and the Congress in Odisha. But as the NDA candidate is from the JD(U) and not the BJP while the Opposition candidate is from the Congress, the balance tilts in favour of the former. However, it might be recalled that in a similar situation, the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) had refused to back NDA candidate P.A. Sangma in the 2012 presidential poll, when Pranab Mukherjee was elected. This fact was mentioned in a press statement issued by the BJD on Tuesday.

The election to the post of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman is being held after a 20-year gap, and is being seen as a kind of dress rehearsal for the 2019 general election. After Thursday’s voting, it will be clear as to which side the non-BJP, non-Congress parties are aligned with. Many parties like the PDP, the BJP’s erstwhile partner in Jammu and Kashmir, have decided to abstain. Others like the Aam Aadmi Party, though having pledged their support to the Opposition candidate, have now upped the stakes saying that since it is a Congress candidate, no one other than Rahul Gandhi should call their party chief Arvind Kejriwal to seek support.

The Congress, on its part, is trying very hard to convince Mr Patnaik to at least have the BJD abstain, leaving the room open for a tight contest and a possible win, which would cause huge embarrassment to the government.

The BJP officially claimed it has the support of 126 MPs in a House of 244. But an internal party document said with the BJD on its side, the NDA had 126 votes, but if the BJD abstains, the government falls short by one vote.

In a setback for the Opposition side on Tuesday, the NCP pulled out its candidate after having failed to secure a “yes” from the Odisha CM. Following this, it was left to the Congress to field a candidate, as it was the largest Opposition party.

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