BJP to field candidate for 3rd Rajya Sabha seat:High command gives green signal; Meenakshi Natarajan to file nomination tomorrow

The political battle for the third Rajya Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh has intensified. After receiving the green signal from Delhi, the BJP has decided to field a candidate for the third seat as well. The decision was finalised at a key meeting held at the CM House on Sunday. The party has also prepared documents for two leaders being considered as potential candidates. Earlier on Saturday night, a meeting of the BJP legislature party was held at the Chief Minister’s residence. During the meeting, Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav directed all BJP MLAs to remain in Bhopal until June 8. Meanwhile, Congress Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan will file her nomination papers in Bhopal on June 8. Former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, PCC chief Jitu Patwari and Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar will be present during the nomination process. The Congress has instructed all its MLAs to mandatorily attend the nomination programme. BJP may announce candidate at the last moment Amid the political activity, Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav held a series of meetings with senior leaders throughout Sunday. Minister Rakesh Singh and former minister Narottam Mishra met him at the CM House for discussions. Later in the evening, BJP Regional Organisation General Secretary Ajay Jamwal, state in-charge Dr. Mahendra Singh and BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal also reached the Chief Minister’s residence. After a meeting that lasted nearly an hour, the final approval from Delhi for fielding a third candidate was received. It is now believed that after ensuring participation in Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination process, the BJP may announce its candidate at the eleventh hour. Former NSUI National President Meenakshi Natarajan hails from Nagda (Birlagram) in Ujjain district. She was born on July 23, 1973. Rising through student politics, she went on to become the National President of the NSUI. She holds an MSc degree in Biochemistry and an LLB degree from Devi Ahilya University, Indore. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, she won the Mandsaur parliamentary seat on a Congress ticket by a huge margin. Considered a close associate of Rahul Gandhi, Meenakshi Natarajan is currently the Congress in-charge for Telangana. She is also the author of two books — 1857 Bharatiya Pariprekshya and Apne Apne Kurukshetra. Within the party, she is known for her strong grassroots organisational abilities, simplicity, and efforts to promote women and youth leadership. Complete arithmetic behind the 3rd seat Effective strength of the Assembly: 228 MLAs Winning mark for 3 Rajya Sabha seats: 58 votes BJP MLAs: 164 Congress MLAs: 64 (Vijaypur MLA will not vote) BAP: 1 MLA How many votes does BJP have? The BJP requires 116 votes to win two Rajya Sabha seats. After allocating 116 votes from its total strength of 164 MLAs, the party will be left with 48 votes. To win the third seat, a candidate requires 58 votes. This means the BJP needs 10 additional votes to reach the winning mark. How many votes does congress have? Congress has 63 effective votes (the position of Bina MLA Nirmala Sapre remains unclear). If the party also secures the support of the lone BAP MLA, its tally will rise to 64 votes. This is six votes more than the 58 required for victory. How Can BJP Win the Third Seat? BJP’s remaining votes: 48 Additional votes required: 10 Total required for victory: 58 votes In other words, the BJP will need cross-voting by at least 10 MLAs or equivalent support from the opposition camp to secure victory on the third Rajya Sabha seat.