BJP setback: No RS seat for Ahluwalia

The move to drop Ahluwalia,however,according to sources,may not be a sudden decision but one that apparently has a history behind it of growing rifts in the top echelons of the party. Sources said differences between party president Nitin Gadkari and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj,with whom Ahluwalia shares a good rapport,could be one of the reasons for the latter getting left out. “That Ahluwalia would not make it,had actually become clear in the last meeting of the central election committee when Dharmendra Pradhan was selected as the second candidate from Bihar after Ravi Shankar Prasad,” said a senior party functionary.

The dropping of Ahluwalia now means that the BJP will have to choose another deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. A former Congressman,Ahluwalia did not have “many friends” in the BJP though he had proved to be “useful” for the party in the Rajya Sabha because of his experience about parliamentary practices and tactics as well as his “rapport” with the Congress leaders. Among those whose names are being mentioned for the deputy leader’s post are Ravi Shankar Prasad,Prakash Javadekar and Rama Jois.

Last week,the BJP had indicated that Ahluwalia would be fielded from Bihar with help from the JD(U). It demanded three seats from the state on the ground that in the last two occasions,it had transferred its surplus votes to the JD(U) candidate.

However,the JD(U) insisted on allowing only two seats to the party,and Vashist Narain Singh,state party president,filed his nomination today. While the JD(U) had just 13 spare votes after retaining its three candidates — Ali Anwar,Mahendra Prasad and Anil Sahni — the BJP had 21 spare votes after nominating Ravishankar Prasad and Dharmendra Pradhan.

“Since we did not want to disturb the equilibrium with our ally in Bihar,we decided not to press for the third seat. We also were mindful of the fact that the JD(U) is a valuable ally of the NDA and will be important in the 2014 elections” said a senior leader.

“It is not a BJP or JD(U) show,the NDA is getting six RS seats,” said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Efforts were also made to ensure a seat from Jharkhand,with Gadkari holding discussions with Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda and Deputy Chief Minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren in Mumbai. However,the JMM refused to concede,forcing the BJP to give up their plans to renominate Ahluwalia,sources said. The JMM has now fielded R K Aggarwal for the lone seat from the state.