Decision today on Congress’s objections to BJP-backed Jharkhand RS candidate

THe determination on the Bharatiya Janata company (BJP)-led subject popular confederation (NDA)-backed independent candidate Parimal Nathwani’s candidature for the June 18 Rajya Sabha polls in Jharkhand was expected on Wednesday after the Congress pointed to “discrepancies” in his nomination papers.People aware of the matter said Nathwani has been asked to clarify the issues Congress legislator Naman Bixel Kongari raised regarding his papers before 11am on Wednesday. They added that returning officer Ranjeet Kumar would subsequently decide on the issue.The developments in Jharkhand coincided with the cancellation of the nomination of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan for the Rajya Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday after objections that she failed to disclose a court summons issued in connection with a rape case filed against a Congress leader in Telangana in 2022.The cancellation means all three BJP candidates from Madhya Pradesh will go to the Rajya Sabha. It came even as the Congress was taking precautionary measures to protect its flock amid speculation that Natarajan was not the state unit’s choice and that some legislators could vote across party lines against her.Ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress have fielded Baidyanath Ram and Pranav Jha for the two vacant seats in the eastern state. Nathwani, a three-term Rajya Sabha member, filed his nomination as an NDA-backed candidate. Tuesday was earmarked for scrutiny of the papers.The JMM has 34 members in the Jharkhand assembly. It is set to win one of the two seats. The Congress has 16 legislators. A candidate requires 28 first-preference votes in the 81-member assembly to win. The NDA has 24 lawmakers, and the ruling bloc has 56.A BJP lawmaker said a reply regarding Nathwani’s papers has been submitted to the returning officer via an affidavit. “Nathwani’s lawyers would be at the assembly again on Wednesday, and if required, they would provide all the required details. The returning officer would decide on the matter at 11am on Wednesday, when the complainants would also be present at the assembly.”Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, the Congress observer for Jharkhand Rajya Sabha polls, wondered whether the law would be followed in the decision-making.“A discrepancy has been reported in the nomination papers of Parimal Nathwani, the BJP-backed candidate for the Jharkhand Rajya Sabha election. A hearing regarding the complaint is underway. It remains to be seen whether this BJP-backed candidate will retain his candidacy simply because he enjoys the BJP’s protective shield, or if the same rules will apply to him as well, resulting in the defeat of unethical practices,” said Baghel in a social media post on Tuesday.The June 18 biennial elections for 24 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states are being held as the NDA seeks the two-thirds majority mark in the Upper House. The BJP is the single-largest party with 113 members (including five nominated lawmakers). The NDA has 149 seats in the 245-member House.