Ahluwalia is BJP RS candidate from Jharkhand

The BJP had not fielded any candidate in the March 30 Rajya Sabha poll from the state that was countermanded after Rs 2.15 crore was seized from an SUV allegedly belonging to Independent candidate R K Agarwal. Though Ahluwalia is the outgoing MP from this state,his name was not announced the first time due to internal differences and JMM adamance.

Though ally JMM has already fielded Supreme Court lawyer Sanjeev Kumar,BJP sources said efforts are on to convince JMM to drop its candidate.

The fact that JMM itself is not sure of the numbers as the party is a divided house- with some MLAs wanting a local to be fielded- has made BJP confident of having its way.

Both BJP and JMM have 18 MLAs each in the Jharkhand Assembly but one BJP MLA- Ramchander Baitha- has been suspended from the party for rebel activities. Since a Rajya Sabha candidate needs 27 votes to win the seat,BJP will need the support of 10 more MLAs.

There is a buzz that Ahluwalia has a good equation with JVM(P) leader Babulal Marandi and may seek his support too in case the JMM does not withdraw its candidate. However,BJP leaders are confident this situation would not arise.

AJSU,with five MLAs,and JD(U),with two,are also with the BJP-JMM coalition.

Anshuman Mishra- a London businessman- had also filed his nomination papers earlier and six BJP MLAs,among others,had supported him then. However,when senior BJP leaders issued directions to party MLAs not to vote for Mishra,he was forced to withdrew his nomination.