Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Election 2018: NCP MP Vandana Chavan Likely to Be Opposition Candidate
On reports of her being opposition candidate for Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman elections, Chavan was quoted by ANI saying that she would be very happy of any woman is elected as Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
New Delhi, August 7: Vandana Chavan, a lawmaker in Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has been picked by the Opposition for the post of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson. According to a report by IANS, after a meeting of opposition parties in the chamber of Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, a leader said that Chavan is being actively considered. The parties decided to have another meeting in the evening to finalise the name.
On reports of her being opposition candidate for Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman elections, Chavan was quoted by ANI saying that she would be very happy of any woman is elected as Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. “I would be very happy if any woman is elected as Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, but nothing has been decided yet. Opposition meetings are going on, we should wait”, Chavan said.
Chavan, the 57-year-old member of the NCP, is a former Mayor of Pune. If reports are to be believed, the Shiv Sena might support Chavan’s candidature. The elections to the post of deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha will be held on August 9.
Earlier this month, Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar sought the support of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for his party MP Harivansh Narayan Singh in the election for Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Reports inform that the BJP discussed the election at a parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday morning. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and party chief Amit Shah.
According to a report by NDTV, sources informed that both Akalis and the Shiv Sena will support the government. The government is also counting on the support of the AIADMK and K Chandrashekar Rao's Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which will give it 125 votes. The opposition has 119 seats -- including Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress.
Ahead of the election on Thursday, wide range of discussions and meetings are being held by the NDA as well as the Opposition parties. It must be noted that to win in the 245-member house, a candidate needs 123 votes. The report states that if the Akalis (3 seats), Sena (3 seats) and Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (9 seats) abstain, the NDA numbers will be down to 110, when the majority mark will be 115.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 07, 2018 04:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).