House Shift

Among the prominent faces set to go out are former Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi (Shiv Sena),who has failed to secure a renomination this time. As far as the Congress goes,it has dropped its spokesperson Rashid Alvi,who failed to secure renomination from Andhra Pradesh along with the partys Telangana face Keshav Rao. The latter had played an instrumental role in scuttling HRD Minister Kapil Sibals few Bills in the Upper House.

BJP vice-president Kalraj Mishra will be moving from the Rajya Sabha to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly,having won in the state elections recently. In addition,the partys deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha,S S Ahluwalia,who had made a mark with vociferous protests that often couldnt be ignored by the government,also failed to secure a nomination from Jharkhand.

Among the most prominent faces set to enter the House is BSP supremo Mayawati. With the Congress looking for allies to steady its government at the Centre,Mayawatis presence in New Delhi can lead to an easier day-to-day floor management against opposition onslaughts.

The entry of film star Chiranjeevi,who recently merged his party with the Congress,is also set to create a buzz.

While actor Hema Malini failed to secure a BJP renomination from Karnataka in the wake of rebellion by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa,the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party has decided to bring in Jaya Bachchan.

Najma Heptullah is returning to the Upper House from Madhya Pradesh on a BJP nomination.

Party Positions

The elections are set to significantly impact the strength of several political parties this time. Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is all set to improve its tally. While the term of only one of the members of the TMC,Railway Minister Mukul Roy,was expiring,and he has been renominated,the TMC is all set to win at least three seats and is likely to get a fourth one too. The party has fielded four candidates,ignoring the demands of its alliance partner Congress in the state. That will increase the Trinamools strength from six to eight,may be even nine.

From UP,where 10 seats are up for change,the Mayawati-led BSP is set to see its numbers drop from five to two. In contrast,the SP is set to improve its tally. While only two of its members are retiring,the party is all set to send in six members. One of the BSP members who is retiring,Naresh Agarwal,is,incidentally,set to return as an SP nominee. In the process,the BSPs tally is set to drop from 17 to 14,while the SP will improve its tally from four to eight.

The SP and BSPs combine tally may go up from 21 currently to 22 because of the BJPs poor performance,leaving it with votes only enough to send one member to the Rajya Sabha. It has renominated Vinay Katiyar.

The Congress has nominated former SP vice-president Rasheed Masood,who is all set to get elected,while alliance partner RLD will lose its single seat from the state as it has done a swap with the Congress. For supporting the Congress in the Rajya Sabha polls,it will get an MLC seat.

Lalu Prasad Yadavs RJD is all set to dwindle in strength from four to two members. Rajniti Prasad,who shot to fame for tearing the Lokpal Bill during discussion in the House last December,is set to retire. Two of the seats held by the RJD look set to go to the BJP-JD(U) kitty.

While five members from the Left are retiring,they have fielded only one candidate who is sure to win,meaning a net loss of four in their strength in the Upper House. The current combined strength of the Left parties is 19. The TDP,on the other hand,is slated to to gain one seat this time,going from four to five.

Contests

While the candidates at many places like Uttar Pradesh (10),Bihar (six),Andhra Pradesh (six),Rajasthan (three),Madhya Pradesh (five),Gujarat (four),Chhattisgarh (one),Haryana (one),and Himachal Pradesh (one) among others are likely to get elected unopposed because of the parties fielding the same number of candidates as available seats,there are going to be bitter contests at many places,most prominently West Bengal (five),Maharashtra (six),Uttarakhand (one),Jharkhand (two) and Karnataka (four).

Of the five seats going to polls in Bengal,the Left parties are in a position to elect only one candidate and have renominated the CPMs Tapan Sen. The Congress and TMC alliance can thus win four of them. However,after Mamata fielded nominees for all four seats,the Congress,too,named one,and the numbers may prove hard to come by. With the last day of withdrawal of nominations on Thursday,it remains to be seen whether the Congress and TMC will face off each other in the RS polls.

In Maharashtra,there are eight candidates vying for six seats,with one of Sharad Pawar-led NCPs candidates competing against an Independent for one seat with hopes pinned on support from Raj Thackerays MNS and Independent MLAs.

In Karnataka,the BJP is facing rebellion from former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa,who has fielded an Independent candidate; the BJP has already fielded two official candidates and the Congress has fielded one. With the fourth retiring candidate independent Rajeev Chadrasekhar also in the fray,BSYs claimant has made it a tough contest in this state.

In Jharkhand,BJPs alliance partner JMMs insistence to let it field its candidate got the BJP to let its deputy leader in the Upper House S S Ahluwalias term expire without renomination. However,with an independent candidate supported by the BJP and the Congress and its alliance partner Babulal Marandi-led JVM deciding to contest separately,it has meant four contestants for two seats from the state.

Facing a rebellion in the ranks,the Congress has decided to field Harish Rawats choice as its candidate in Uttarakhand,but the BJP has sought to unsettle the Congress by propping two candidates who can poach into Congress ranks making it a contest.