Congress nominates veteran women’s leader for Rajya Sabha bypoll

Rajani Patil one of 12 recommended by state to legislative council, move appears to be sign of diminishing hope in gov clearing appointments

Former Member of Parliament (MP) Rajani Patil’s nomination as the Congress candidate for the October 4 Rajya Sabha bypolls appears to be a sign of the national party’s diminishing hope in the Maharashtra governor, who has been tasked with clearing her appointment, along with 11 other Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) nominees to the State Legislative Council. The Congress chose Patil, 62, a veteran women’s leader, for the upper house vacancy created by the death of Rajeev Satav because of COVID-19.

The party high command announced Patil’s nomination, a former Lok Sabha (1996) and Rajya Sabha (2013) member, on Monday. Many others, including Satav’s doctor wife, were in contention. Patil holds charge of Jammu & Kashmir. Her selection confirms that she continues to enjoy the confidence of the Gandhi family, which neither fielded a national-level non-Maharashtra leader nor any aspirants from the state.

Among others, Patil’s appointment to the State Legislative Council under the governor’s quota has been in limbo for the past nine months because of a tussle between the Raj Bhavan and the ruling parties. The matter was taken to court which observed that such appointments should not be delayed further. Chief Minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray and his deputy Ajit Pawar met Koshyari last month to request him to expedite the appointments. 

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari hasn’t taken the call to resolve the imbroglio yet, though it is said that he wanted some of the people recommended by the MVA to be replaced with non-political persons of eminence, as far as the Constitutional provision for such nominations is concerned. By-elections to the seven seats — one each in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Puducherry and two in Tamil Nadu — will be held on October 4.

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