A Rajya Sabha bypoll in Haryana, caused by the death of Indian National Lok Dal member Sumitra Mahajan, has triggered a race in the ruling Congress. Nominations for the seat begin on Monday and polling, if necessary, would take place on March 29.PCC working president Ram Prakash has emerged a frontrunner, followed by Finance Minister Birender Singh, Minister of State for Tourism Kiran Chaudhry and Mahila Congress vice-president Krishna Gehlaut.Ram Prakash’s case is stronger than the rest, primarily because he enjoys the support of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Brought in as a working president when Bhajan Lal headed the PCC, Ram Prakash however lacks a pan-Haryana profile. A Rajya Sabha membership would naturally supplement his credentials, particularly when he is looking forward to an elevation as a full-fledged president. And Hooda cannot find himself a better choice—Ram Prakash being a dotting party chief. In his favour are also the factors that he is a former minister and university professor. Besides, he belongs to the under-represented backward Lohar community.Birender Singh is a dissident. Always feeling ill at ease working under his cousin Hooda, he wants to move on to the Centre. But, it is not simply this sense of discomfort which has motivated him to look for an avenue at the Centre. A widespread feeling prevalent among Jat leaders of the Congress is that there is a vacant slot at the Centre following Natwar Singh’s exit. And Birender is no ordinary Jat. He is a grandson of legendary Jat leader Sir Chhotu Ram and has even been PCC president. A Rajya Sabha berth, he hopes, would enable him to bid for either a ministerial berth or an AICC assignment.Kiran Chaudhry is known to have placed her case directly before party president Sonia Gandhi. Her argument: the vacancy has occurred due to a woman’s death. The argument is targeted at Sonia’s known commitment to the idea of women’s empowerment. Chaudhry was active in Delhi’s before she moved to Haryana to contest a bypoll following the death of husband Surender Singh in an air crash. She is credited with a strong desire to return to Delhi so that daughter Shruti can step in to her shoes. These aspirants are not deterred by the fact that there is just a year left of the total six-year term—the assumption being that anyone who makes the grade now is sure to get the next regular term too.
