Congress worried about Sibal’s Rajya Sabha prospects

While the upcoming Rajya Sabha election is fast turning out to be a fight between the Congress and the BJP, the former seems concerned about the prospects of Kabil Sibal, one of its key nominations from Uttar Pradesh.

With the support of 29 Congress MLAs, Mr. Sibal would need another five votes to get the RS berth. Party sources said the Samajwadi Party was willing to support Mr. Sibal by asking two of its legislators to vote for him. Since Mr. Sibal has offered his legal counsel to SP chief Mulayam Singh, sources said, he is confident that the party would not back down at the last minute.

Though Mr. Sibal would still be short of three votes, the Congress is reportedly in talks with RLD leader Choudhary Ajit Singh, who is yet to give out any indication whether he would support the senior leader or not.

A senior Congress leader told The Hindu that until recently, the party was sure about Mr. Singh backing Mr. Sibal. However, it is the last-minute entry of political debutant Preeti Mahapatra from Gujarat that now worries the party.

“We hope Choudhary won’t come under Mahapatra’s influence and choose the other side,” the leader said.

Ms. Mahapatra is contesting the elections from Uttar Pradesh as an independent candidate, but in the Congress, she has a reputation of being a “horse-trader who influences politicians with money to achieve political motives of the BJP chief Amit Shah.”