Harivansh Narayan Singh of JDU (R) and Manoj Jha of RJD.
The contest will be watched closely because both candidates are from Bihar, which will likely go to the polls in the coming months.
- News18.com
- Last update: September 11, 2020 3:39 PM IST
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Rajya Sabha is likely to elect his vice president on the first day of the monsoon session that begins Monday. The NDA candidate, Harivansh Narayan Singh of JD (U), who is seeking his second consecutive term, faces the candidate proposed by the opposition: Manoj Jha of RJD. There are several reasons why the events in the upper house of Parliament on Monday will be interesting, despite the clear advantage Harivansh Singh has given, as the numbers stack in his favor.
Despite that, the contest will be watched closely because both candidates are from Bihar, which will likely go to the polls in the coming months. Here’s a look at their profiles:
Harivansh Narayan Singh was a journalist by profession. He worked as an editor for Prabhat Khabar and served as a media adviser to the eighth Prime Minister of India, Chandra Shekhar Singh. He was born in the town of Sitab Diara, better known as the birthplace of the socialist leader Jai Prakash Narayan, in June 1956. He graduated from the Hindu University of Banaras. Singh considers himself close to Bihar’s chief minister, Nitish Kumar, and was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 2014.
The senior leader of JD (U) is a Rajput, and given the BJP’s hopes of gaining ground based on his campaign around another Bihar Rajput, Sushant Singh, Harivansh Singh’s candidacy will be seen as a clear signal by BJP. + JD (U) to the Rajput community in the state linked to the survey. This symbolism will be important given that, of all the upper castes in the state, the Rajputs so far have not shown much enthusiasm for the NDA, and are still believed to be warm towards the RJD. Singh’s nomination also works for the BJP to keep their longtime Bihari ally JD (U) in a good mood.
From the point of view of the RJD, on the other hand, Manoj Jha, a soft Brahmin face, is a similar gamble to get closer to the Brahmins in Bihar. Before Jha, the name of DMK MP Tiruchi Siva was circulating as an opposition candidate against Singh. However, the DMK is said to have withdrew at the last minute, given RJD the opportunity to float the name of its Rajya Sabha member as a candidate.
Jha has served as a professor in the department of social work at the University of Delhi since 2002. He is considered a good speaker and is said to be endorsed by NCP, Trinamool, BSP, DMK, as well as Congress and SP. Yet, at its peak, the opposition is not likely to come anywhere near the middle of the 122 mark in the 244-member House.
The NDA, on the other hand, hopes to cross the 140 mark in its support of Harivansh Narayan Singh. On its own, the strength of the NDA is at 113, which is much closer to the middle of the road.
While Nitish Kumar called Odisha’s Senior Minister Naveen Patnaik, whose BJD has nine Rajya Sabha members, it is believed that the BJP’s senior leaders called Andhra Pradesh’s Senior Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy and Telangana’s Senior Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, whose parties have six RS members each, to seek their support.
Harivansh was elected to the post of vice president last year when he replaced PJ Kurien from Congress. The first defeated BK Hariprasad, obtaining 125 votes.
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