The Congress’ choice of candidates for the Rajya Sabha shows the “nervousness” of the party, which is “losing” its allies and does not enjoy their unwavering support, the BJP said on Friday..
Training his guns on Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, in a statement, said the Congress was working hard to ensure there was no stiff competition in Amethi, the constituency of the party vice-president.
“The very idea that the Raja of Amethi, Sanjay Singh, may contest against Rahul Gandhi was enough to scare the Congress’s de facto prime ministerial candidate. The Raja of Amethi had to be accommodated in the Rajya Sabha from Assam,” said Mr. Jaitley.
The BJP leader alleged that the Congress was trying to negotiate with the “Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party” to “not put up candidates from the minority community against the sitting MP.”
In a direct attack on Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Mr. Jaitely, who has been engaged in a war of words with the Minister, said: “Mr. Chidambaram appears to be planning life after the North Block. He is an extremely competent lawyer. Parliament’s loss will be Supreme Court’s gain. From the kind of statements he is making and the academic questions he is posing to his opponents, I suspect that he is practising to get back to column writing. I am sure his columns will make an excellent reading.”
Taking a dig at other senior Congress leader opting for the House of Elders instead of contesting the Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Jaitley said: “Each one is frantically concerned about his own position rather than wanting the Congress to get ready for a spirited fight. Senior leaders from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, who should have been leading the party’s campaign in this election, have sought nominations for the Upper House.”
