Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Bharatiya Janata Party plans to select candidates for the Rajya Sabha keeping in mind caste equations.
The ruling party is all set to win four Rajya Sabha seats out of the five in the state.
The BJP is mulling over selecting SC, ST, OBC and general candidates for these four seats.
The party leadership will also try to maintain a balance between the central and the state leaders.
Central leaders Dharmendra Pradhan and N Murugan are holding two seats. State leaders Ajay Pratap Singh and Kailash Soni have been elected from two other seats.
But the party may give three seats to the state leaders. Both Pradhan and Murugan may be asked to contest the Lok Sabha election. Thus, a new face from the Centre may be sent to the Rajya Sabha.
Among the state leaders, SC, ST and general candidates may be sent to RS.
An ST leader from Mahakaushal, a general candidate from the Gwalior-Chambal region and an SC leader from the Malwa region may be given an opportunity to go to the Upper House.
According to sources, the central leadership of the party is taking feedback on the candidates to be selected for the RS election.
Apart from that, the central leaders have sought some names from their MP counterparts. The BJP will declare its candidates on the basis of the feedback.
Congress may send Arun Yadav to RS
The tenure of Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP Rajmani Patel, who belongs to the OBC category, is soon going to end. So the party is considering an OBC candidate for the Upper House. Former president of MPCC Yadav’s name is doing the rounds for RS membership. Because the BJP has given the Chief Minister’s post to someone belonging to the Yadav community, the Congress may follow suit by sending a member of the same community to the RS.
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