Jethmalani makes BJP RS choice tougher

WHILE the BJP top brass will meet on Friday to decide the candidates for the four Rajya Sabha slots in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,the desire expressed by noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani to represent the party in the Upper House has added an interesting dimension. As it is,the selection is going to be a tough call for the party given the number of aspirants in the fray.

Sources said Jethmalani has written a letter to top BJP leaders,including its chief Nitin Gadkari,conveying his wish to join the party and have a stint in the Rajya Sabha. He had retired from the Upper House last year. But the party is divided. Senior leader L K Advani is said to be in favour of giving the octogenarian a chance,but many are not keen to oblige him.

The age factor is said to be weighing against the jurist,who had represented Advani in the Babri Masjid case and is a lawyer for one of the accused in a Gujarat riots case. His contest against Atal Bihari Vajpayee from Lucknow in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections is also cited by a section of the party leaders as a reason for not entertaining him. The BJP cannot forget either that he once said that Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru should not be hanged.

Jethmalani,who had served as a minister in the Vajpayee government,is keen to represent the BJP from Madhya Pradesh. Of the two seats falling vacant in the state,the party is set to renominate Anil Madhav Dave from one while several names are doing the rounds for the second seat. Sources said Tawar Chand Gehlot and Satya Narayan Jatiya are among those in the reckoning. The state unit has left it to the central leadership to decide on the second candidate.

The BJP is in a position to win two seats from Rajasthan,but there too the party has to do a balancing act since the names of Hema Malini,Najma Heptullah and state president Arun Chaturvedi are in the reckoning.