With the term of Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, ending on 15 February, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir shall for the first time have no representation in the Council of States. The tenures of two Peoples Democratic Party MPs—Nazir Ahmed Laway and Mir Mohammad Fayaz—shall also be completed on 10 and 15 February respectively and that of BJP’s Shamsher Singh Manhas will expire on Wednesday. At present, the Union Territory, as it exists, does not have an Assembly, so it is unlikely that there shall be any nominee from the region till elections are held. Azad’s best chance of returning as a member of the Upper House would depend on whether the Congress high command facilitates his entry by granting him a berth from Kerala, which appears most uncertain, given that elections to the Assembly there are due later this year, and the ticket may be given to a local politician.
In the meanwhile, speculation has started on who would be succeeding Azad as the LoP and several names are doing the rounds, the most prominent of them being P. Chidambaram, Mallikarjun Kharge, Anand Sharma and Digvijaya Singh. Kharge could be the front runner since he was handpicked by Sonia Gandhi as the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha after the 2014 parliamentary elections. However, there is thinking in one section that the Congress needs to build itself up in the northern states and the chosen person should be someone who can articulate fluently in both English and Hindi. Anand Sharma could thus get picked unless the party leadership decides not to give importance to any of the 23 leaders who had written a letter to Sonia Gandhi in August, urging for internal party elections as well as a more inclusive decision-making process.
Anand, like Azad, has risen up the ladder after being involved in the organisation work at various stages of his political career. He was a national office bearer of the NSUI under Mohan Gopal to begin with, and later headed the Indian Youth Congress. On the other hand, Digvijaya Singh has vast political experience and has been the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for ten years. However, the party leadership is wary of his ambitions and may not like him to be projected for the post. P. Chidambaram was Sonia’s favourite at one stage and could have replaced Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister, if the 2G scam had not backfired, leading to the beginning of the India Against Corruption movement under Anna Hazare and his followers. That agitation contributed to the fall of the UPA government in the polls. PC is well versed with the political system and is both sharp and perceptive. There are others in the Rajya Sabha who could be dark horses such as Ambika Soni, who is not only Sonia’s confidante but is also trusted by both Rahul and Priyanka.
Rahul’s efforts to promote any of his close supporters such as K.C. Venugopal may not succeed at this juncture. Nevertheless, the absence of any member from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir would not go unnoticed. It would also be unfair to write off Azad, who is a great survivor and an extremely astute politician. At some stage, he would surely make a comeback.