Congress old hands for Rajya Sabha elections

NEW DELHI: Congress has nominated its general secretary Digvijaya Singh to Rajya Sabha, indicating that the party would prefer the senior leader to focus on his responsibility as in charge of key states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Singh had announced his decision to contest the 2014 elections and his nomination to the Upper House from Madhya Pradesh came as a surprise.

In a similar move, AICC general secretary Madhusudan Mistry has been named for the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. Mistry, too, was preparing to contest the Lok Sabha elections. He is in charge of the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh besides being involved in the selection of candidates for Lok Sabha polls nationally.

The freeing of senior leaders from Lok Sabha contest is likely to bring a sense of focus to the AICC that is faced with the prospect of its key managers focusing on their own elections. If that happens, the party would lack experienced hands to manage elections in states.

Congress renominated KVP Ramachandra Rao, MA Khan and T Subbarami Reddy from Andhra Pradesh. Party legislators in AP are split along Telangana and non-Telangana lines and there is speculation that non-Telangana legislators may field rebel candidates. While Khan is sure to find support from Telangana MLAs, Rao and Reddy are said to have personal clout among Seemandhra legislators to foil any sabotage bid.

However, suspense remains on the party's nominations from Haryana and Assam. While it is speculated that Sheila Dikshit, former CM of Delhi, may be accommodated from Haryana, the name of Sultanpur MP Sanjay Singh is doing the rounds for Assam. Singh is said to be important for Congress campaigning in Amethi represented by Rahul Gandhi and there have been rumours about his being in talks with the BJP.