New Delhi, July 2: The Congress party is having a difficult time in sending former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to Rajya Sabha once again. On Tuesday, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) declared three candidates for Rajya Sabha seats in its quota, dashing Congress's hope of sending Manmohan Singh to the Upper House of Parliament from Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK and the opposition DMK have enough legislators to win three Rajya Sabha seats each. DMK chief MK Stalin, who had once pitched Congress President Rahul Gandhi for the prime minister's post, decided against leaving one seat of its ally reportedly after Rahul and his mother Sonia Gandhi didn't approach him directly for Singh's nomination. Manmohan Singh Thousand Times Better Than Narendra Modi, Says Arvind Kejriwal.

Senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Ghulam Nabi Azad spoke to their counterparts in the DMK, which upset the party's leadership, NDTV reported. Singh's nearly 30-year-long tenure as a Rajya Sabha member ended last month. He was earlier nominated from Assam where the Congress party has lost power and does not have enough legislators to back his renomination.

Congress had considered nominating Singh from Gujarat where two Rajya Sabha seats are vacant after the election of the BJP's Amit Shah and Smriti Irani to the Lok Sabha. However, the grand old party set aside the idea after the Supreme Court rejected its request for simultaneous bypolls to both the Rajya Sabha seats in the state.

The Congress party is now planning to nominate the former prime minister from Rajasthan. A Rajya Sabha seat is vacant following the death of BJP's Madan Lal Saini. Congress, which wrested power from the BJP in the state after winning the assembly polls in December, is confident of winning the Rajya Sabha seat for Singh.

Singh was a member of Rajya Sabha for five consecutive terms from 1991 to 2019 and has the distinction of holding the coveted post of Prime Minister for two consecutive terms.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 02, 2019 07:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).