Jharkhand – The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Jharkhand. The party has chosen Pradip Varma, its general secretary in the state, to contest for one of the two seats that will fall vacant in May.
Who is Pradip Varma?
Pradip Varma is a senior leader of the BJP in Jharkhand. He has been the general secretary of the party since 2019. He is also a member of the state executive committee and the core committee of the party.
Varma is a doctor by profession and runs a hospital in Ranchi. He is also the president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in Jharkhand. He has been associated with the BJP since his student days and has held various positions in the party’s youth and medical wings.
Varma is considered to be close to the former chief minister and BJP leader Raghubar Das. He is also seen as a loyalist of the party’s national president JP Nadda. He belongs to the Kurmi community, which is a dominant caste group in the state.
BJP announces Pradip Varma as its candidate from Jharkhand for Rajya Sabha elections
— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) March 9, 2024
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When and how will the Rajya Sabha elections take place?
The Rajya Sabha elections for two seats from Jharkhand will take place on March 21. The two seats are currently held by Samir Oraon of the BJP and Dheeraj Prasad Sahu of the Congress. Their tenure will end on May 3.
The nomination process for the elections started on March 4 and will end on March 11. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is March 14. The voting will be held between 9 am and 4 pm on March 21 at the Jharkhand assembly premises. The counting of votes will be done on the same day at 5 pm.
The Rajya Sabha elections are held through a system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. Each MLA of the state assembly has one vote and can rank the candidates in order of preference. The candidates who secure the required quota of votes are declared elected.
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What are the chances of BJP winning the Rajya Sabha seat?
The BJP has 25 MLAs in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly. The party also has the support of two MLAs of the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), its former ally. The BJP needs 28 votes to win one Rajya Sabha seat.
The ruling coalition of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has 47 MLAs. The JMM has 30, the Congress has 16 and the RJD has one. The coalition also has the backing of one MLA of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) (JVM-P) and one independent MLA. The coalition needs 56 votes to win both the Rajya Sabha seats.
The BJP is confident of winning one seat with the help of the AJSU and some cross-voting from the ruling coalition. The party has also accused the JMM-led government of indulging in horse-trading and luring its MLAs with money and posts. The party has claimed that it has kept its MLAs in a safe place to prevent any poaching.
The ruling coalition, on the other hand, has denied any such allegations and has asserted that it has the numbers to win both the seats. The coalition has not yet announced its candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections. The JMM and the Congress are likely to field one candidate each, while the RJD may support them.
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