Congress sets Upper House in order,RLD,PRP merger with it next

“We cannot afford to talk with Ajit Singh in future terms,” a Congress leader involved in the negotiations told The Indian Express.

PRP chief Chiranjeevi,on the other hand,is said to be more amenable to merger with the Congress. The issue had come up for discussion at the PRP leader’s meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday.

While the issue of merger of the PRP,RLD with the Congress remains pending,their support to its candidates in Rajya Sabha elections is set to provide crucial numbers to the Congress’s otherwise depleted strength in the Upper House. As of now,the Congress has 71 members in the Rajya Sabha,out of which 18 will retire by next month. Elections for 56 Rajya Sabha seats from 13 states will be held on June 14 and 17.

Thanks to aggressive negotiations with regional parties,the Congress looks set to bring back 17 to the Upper House. While the Congress could lose one in its overall tally,its UPA constituents are likely to increase their tally in Rajya Sabha by four (three to DMK and one to NCP). The Congress and its allies (NCP,TMC,NC,DMK) together have 85 MPs,which,after the biennial elections,will reach 88.

Although the government will still have to bank on the support of the SP,BSP and Independents to push contentious legislations through,the Congress’s aggressive strategy in the biennial elections has ensured that its own strength does not dwindle significantly while the UPA’s tally improves marginally.

However,the Congress remains apprehensive about JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda’s support for its second candidate in Karnataka. While the JD(S) had earlier agreed to extend its support to the Congress candidate in exchange for the party’s support to the JD(S) candidate in the Legislative Council elections,Gowda is said to be dilly-dallying. As a result,both parties have fielded their candidates in the Council elections.