BJP to ask high command to decide RS candidates

The parliamentary committee of the Gujarat BJP will meet on Tuesday to pass a resolution to hand over the power to select Rajya Sabha poll candidates to the party high command. 

The committee was to meet at chief minister (CM) Vijay Rupani’s residence late on Monday, but as he had gone to Deesa to review rescue and relief operations post rains, the meeting was finally postponed to Tuesday.

Sources in the party said, BJP general secretary Bhikhubhai Dalsania would propose the agenda of handing over powers to the high command in the meeting on Tuesday. 

“The party’s parliamentary committee will unanimously decide to hand over the power to select RS candidates to the high command. It has not invited applications from the willing candidates,” the source said. 

Generally, the parliamentary committee used to decide the names and later high command approved it but the tradition has been reversed in the recent past. 

This time, Gujarat BJP is aiming at winning all the three seats in the Rajya Sabha, routing the chances of Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel to be elected in the RS. The party is also likely to field a prominent face of BJP to contest against Patel.

If BJP succeeds in defeating Patel, Congress will have only one member in RS from Gujarat that is Madhusudan Mistry. However, Congress says as per the existing act, there is no chance that Patel cannot be elected.