Chandigarh: With the assembly polls drawing near, several Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) stalwart are staking claim on Rajya Sabha seat which is lying vacant following the resignation of Congress parliamentarian Deepender Singh Hooda.
In this connection, it is coming to light that several women leaders in BJP are strong contenders for Rajya Sabha seat but the final decision has to be taken by the party high command, the supreme authority to take final call pertaining to any decision.
BJP is entitled to give 33 percent reservation to women in elections, so in this sense the claim of women leaders on Rajya Sabha seat becomes strong.
Currently among the women leaders in the party, Banto Kataria, Sunita Duggal and Kiran Chaudhary are in the queue for ticket.
At present , there is no woman MP of BJP in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha from Haryana, in such a situation, the party can galvanise women voters in the upcoming assembly elections by giving ticket to any one of aforementioned women leaders.
In the Lok Sabha elections too, BJP gave ticket to only one woman leader Banto Kataria from Haryana, in this sense women leaders got only 10 percent representation in terms of 10 Lok Sabha seats. Banto Kataria, wife of late Ratan Lal Kataria, who was MP from Ambala for 3 times and is a well-known Dalit face of the party, was given ticket from Ambala but she could not survive the polls.
Similarly, Sunita Duggal, who was an MP from Sirsa was replaced as the BJP Lok Sabha candidate fielding Ashok Tanwar who could not win against Congress’s Kumari Selja. Sunita is an influential leader of Haryana. Similarly, Kiran Chaudhary, who bid a farewell to Congress just ahead of Lok Sabha elections to join BJP in a bid fulfill her political ambitions, is also a contender for Rajya Sabha seat.
If the party fields her from Rajya Sabha, then BJP can get benefit from it on about half a dozen seats in the upcoming assembly elections. Since this time BJP has lost both the reserved seats of Sirsa and Ambala, the claim of the leader of the reserved community increases.
The male stalwarts in the party are also contenders for Rajya Sabha seat. Among them, the names of Ram Bilas Sharma, Om Prakash Dhankhar, Kuldeep Bishnoi and Captain Abhimanyu are constantly surfacing, although the decision of the high command is to be taken as to whom to give priority.
At present, Ramvilas Sharma and Captain Abhimanyu are marginalized in Haryana politics. On the other hand, OP Dhankhar was definitely given a berth in the National organizational set up but his removal from the post of state president was a setback for him. Kuldeep Bishnoi, who left Congress and joined BJP, has also not got such a big responsibility in the party as per his expectations. Neither his son Bhavya Bishnoi was made a minister in Haryana nor Kuldeep Bishnoi got a ticket from Hisar Lok Sabha constituency.
Out of the total 5 Rajya Sabha seats, Haryana currently has 3 BJP, 1 independent and 1 Congress Rajya Sabha member.
With Rajya Sabha member Deepender Hooda being elected to the Lok Sabha, one Rajya Sabha seat has become vacant for which a by-election is to be held.
Its term is till 9 April, 2026. Due to the possibility of elections being held on 10 Rajya Sabha seats in many states including Haryana, political activities have increased in the state, especially in the BJP. Elections are to be held on 2-2 seats in Maharashtra, Assam and Bihar and 1-1 seat in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tripura.
In terms of required legislators, the BJP seems to have an upper hand at the moment. The party has 41 MLAs while an independent MLA Nayanpal Rawat and Haryana Lokhit Party MLA Gopal Kanda have already extended support the BJP. The main opposition party Congress has 28 MLAs while 3 independent MLAs have supported Congress recently.
BJP’s former ally JJP has 10 MLAs but there has been a contradiction in the party for a long time. JJP and Congress are trying to put the ball in each other’s court while both do not have the required number to win. BJP will try to get more than 43 votes in its court. Due to the non-implementation of whip in the Rajya Sabha elections, the possibility of cross voting cannot be ruled out.
It is being said that many big leaders of the state BJP are making rounds of the party high command in Delhi to reach the Rajya Sabha.
Apart from BJP, Naveen Jaihind of Jaihind Sena is also staking claim for the Rajya Sabha elections. For this, support of at least 10 percent of the total elected members of the assembly or 10 members, whichever is less, as proposers will be necessary.
Independent MLA from Meham, Balraj Kundu has announced his party Haryana Jansevak Party’s support to him which is insufficient. He is hopeful that some more MLAs will join him. But it is clear from the current political scenario that the path to Rajya Sabha is not so easy for Naveen Jai Hind
