"Confident everyone will remain united": Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge files Rajya Sabha nomination from Karnataka
Bengaluru, June 5
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday filed his nomination for the June 18 Rajya Sabha elections. He is a Congress candidate to the Upper House from Karnataka.
Kharge was accompanied by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Lok Sabha MP KC Venugopal and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Comittee President BK Hariprasad.
Along with Kharge, Congress candidate Pawan Khera, and Mansoor Ali Khan also submitted their nomination papers to Karnataka Vidhana Soudha Assembly Secretary Vishalakshi.
Addressing reporters after filing his nomination, Kharge said, "All the MLAs and my leaders have unanimously chosen me. The election is scheduled for June 18, and I am confident that everyone will remain united and ensure the victory of the Congress candidates."
The Election Commission had on June 1 issued a notification for biennial elections to 24 Rajya Sabha seats from ten states.
Notification was also issued for the Rajya Sabha bypoll for a seat each in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. Congress on Thursday declared seven candidates for the biennial elections and bypolls to the Rajya Sabha from five states.
Along with Mallikarjun Kharge, Pawan Khera and Mansoor Ali Khan, the party has fielded Meenakshi Natarajan from Madhya Pradesh, Praveen Chakravarty from Tamil Nadu and Pranav Jha from Jharkhand.
The party has renominated Neeraj Dangi from Rajasthan.
The 24 seats includes four seats each in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three seats each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, two seats in Jharkhand, and one seat each in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya. The filing of nominations has begun, and the last date is June 8.
Notification was also issued for the Rajya Sabha bypoll for a seat each in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.
Menawhile BJP has released the list of 11 candidates for the upcoming Biennial and Bye-elections to the Rajya Sabha
The BJP has fielded Tai Tagak from Arunachal Pradesh; Rajubhai Shukla, Mukeshbhai Rathwa, Mansingh Parmar and Jitendra Meghjibhai Kanzariya from Gujarat; Tarun Chugh and Rajneesh Agrawal from Madhya Pradesh; A Sharda Devi from Manipur; and Alka Gurjar and Satish Poonia from Rajasthan.
For the Rajya Sabha by-election in Odisha, the party has nominated Debashish Samantaray as its candidate.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Good to see Rahul Gandhi accompanying Kharge ji. Unity within the party is crucial right now. But I wish they'd explain more about their vision for Karnataka's development, rather than just focussing on elections. 🤔
Interesting timing. The Congress seems to be consolidating its base before the big battles ahead. Kharge is a veteran, but I'm curious how effective he'll be in Rajya Sabha - he's been around long enough to know the ropes.
"Confident everyone will remain united" - let's hope that holds true! Congress has had internal issues before. But Kharge ji's experience in Karnataka politics is unmatched. Let's see if he can bring that same energy to the Upper House.
The Congress party is fielding quite a few candidates across states. Kharge's nomination seems more symbolic as party chief. Maybe they should focus on grooming younger leaders instead of recycling the same faces? Just my two cents.
While this is fine, I hope the party doesn't become too dependent on a few leaders. Rajya Sabha is about representing states, not just parties. Kharge should remember that Karnataka's issues - like drought, unemployment - need attention there.
Good luck to Kharge ji
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