TMC's Sukhendu Sekhar Roy to be Opposition's candidate for RS Dy Chairman election?
New Delhi, Jun 27 (IBNS): In a bid to give a shape to the grand alliance ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Opposition is likely to support Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy as a joint candidate for the Deputy Chairman election in the upper house, media reports said.
The election for the post might become necessary if the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is a minority in the Rajya Sabha, fields a candidate.
According to NDTV, the Congress is likely to back Roy as the Opposition's candidate.
The TMC leader might also receive support from other regional parties like Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS).
The BJP and its allies, which holds an upper hand in the Lok Sabha, have 85 members as opposed to Congress-led United Progressive Alliance's (UPA's) 57.
But, the Opposition as a whole has the support of 160 members.
Earlier, reports did the rounds about the Congress seeking support from the Trinamool Congress for its nominee in the election for the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
During West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's visit to Delhi last week, Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel met her on June 18 in what was being seen as an attempt to garner support for the party candidate.
The post is currently held by Congress MP from Kerala PJ Kurien. Kurien was denied another term to the Upper House by the Congress.
It was reported that the Congress is likely to select some other candidate for the post.
However, given the activities of the Trinamool Congress, which has embarked on a Narendta Modi bashing campaign mainly on economic issues, there has been a general assumption that the party does not want to play the second fiddle to the Congress as far as opposition politics is concerned.
If the Trinamool Congress succeeds in getting Roy the support of the Congress and other non-BJP entities, it will be a significant footprint for the party in national politics where it strives hard to emerge with greater prominence.
The election process will begin during the monsoon session of the parliament.
The term of the Deputy Chairman's post is six years.
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