BJP may back Jethmalani bid

With Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi pushing hard,the BJP on Friday set aside reservations expressed by a section of its leadership and was learnt to have made up its mind to facilitate noted lawyer Ram Jethmalanis entry into the Rajya Sabha....

With Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi pushing hard,the BJP on Friday set aside reservations expressed by a section of its leadership and was learnt to have made up its mind to facilitate noted lawyer Ram Jethmalanis entry into the Rajya Sabha. According to sources,the option being looked into is backing him as an independent candidate.

After a three-hour-long meeting of its Parliamentary Board attended by all the top leaders,the BJP came out with the names of four candidates and declared that the fifth,ostensibly Jethmalani,would be finalised by BJP chief Nitin Gadkari after consultations. Sources said the party was likely to back him as an Independent from Rajasthan. The party had last month-end announced the first list of six candidates.

The four candidates announced on Friday were: journalist Chandan Mitra and Anil Madhav Dave from Madhya Pradesh,two-time Lok Sabha MP V P Singh from one of the two seats it can get in Rajasthan and its national spokesperson Tarun Vijay from Uttarakhand. Significantly,the party also decided to explore the options of securing a Rajya Sabha seat each in Jharkhand and Karnataka.

The decision to accommodate Jethmalani and explore the independent candidate route was agreed upon after much debate. According to party leaders,the octogenarian lawyer had the backing of Modi as he was appearing for the Gujarat Chief Minister in a case related to the post-Godhra riots. But given Jethmalanis unpredictable nature,sources said the party decided against giving him a ticket.

Jethmalani had written a letter to top BJP leaders,particularly L K Advani,seeking an entry into the party and a stint in the Upper House. The name of state BJP president Arun Chaturvedi,actor Hema Malini and Najma Heptullah were also considered for the two vacancies in Rajasthan.

Former chief minister B C Khanduri was in the reckoning for the lone vacancy in Uttarakhand,but the party decided against sending a sitting MLA to the Upper House,considering the fact it enjoys only a wafer-thin majority in the Assembly.

In Karnataka where the BJP will have 33 surplus votes after getting two of its candidates elected,the party is also looking at various options including supporting an acceptable independent candidate.

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For one seat in Jharkhand,the option of negotiating with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha JMM is also not being ruled out. In the 82-member Jharkhand House,the BJP and JMM have 18 seats each.

Although it has only six MLAs,the BJP also hopes to play a role in Orissa where there are three vacancies. While the ruling BJD has announced nominees for all the three posts,it is eight MLAs short to get its third candidate elected. We are a deciding factor in Orissa, said BJP leader Anant Kumar after the Parliamentary Board meeting.