Veteran Congress leader and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday filed his nomination as the Congress candidate for the by-election to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. He filed four sets of papers in the chamber of Returning Officer and Assembly Secretary Pramil Kumar Mathur in Jaipur.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his deputy Sachin Pilot, AICC general secretary Avinash Pande and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal accompanied Dr. Singh.
Dr. Singh was received in the morning by Mr. Gehlot and senior Congress leaders at the Sanganer airport.
The by-election follows the death of State BJP president Madan Lal Saini on June 24 last. He was elected last year.
The ruling Congress is confident of Dr. Singh's victory, as it has the majority in the 200-member Assembly, while two seats are at present vacant. The Congress, which has 100 MLAs, enjoys the outside support of all the six BSP MLAs and 12 independents, and its alliance partner Rashtriya Lok Dal has one seat. Dr. Singh's candidature was supported by the BSP and independent members as well.
Dr. Singh, 86, was a Rajya Sabha member from Assam for five consecutive terms between 1991 and 2019. His tenure in the House ended on June 14 last.
Dr. Singh told reporters on the Assembly premises after submitting his papers that he was grateful to the Congress Parliamentary Party for nominating him to the seat. “I will do my very best to do whatever is possible to promote the cause of the people of Rajasthan,” he said, while expressing condolence for the late Saini.
The BJP, which has 72 seats in the Assembly, is unlikely to field a candidate in the bypoll. Leader of Opposition in the House Gulab Chand Kataria said the party's high command would take a decision.
The desert State has 10 Rajya Sabha seats. The remaining nine seats are with the BJP.
As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India for filling up the vacancy, the notification for by-election was issued on August 7 and the last date for filing of nominations is August 14. The polling, if required, will be held on August 26 and the results declared the same day.
