The unease in the Congress over the list of 10 Rajya Sabha nominees, announced on Sunday, is continuing. While the Congress only renominated three incumbent members—P. Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and Vivek Tankha—its choice of seven 'outsiders' from four states has invited criticism.
The Indian Express reported on Tuesday that the choices announced by the party went against the spirit of the recent Chintan Shivir in Udaipur, which had stressed a 'one family, one ticket' principle and emphasised youth. The Indian Express quoted a Congress leader as saying “All the high-sounding principles of Udaipur were thrown to the wolves. The only principle that matters in the Congress is that you show me the man, I will show you the rule, There may be no violation in letter but the spirit has been denigrated.” The leader was referring to the nominations of P. Chidambaram and Pramod Tewari, whose children are legislators.
Another leader was quoted by The Indian Express as saying “Denying nominations to [Ghulam Nabi] Azad and [Anand] Sharma is perhaps a prudent decision but what about Chidambaram? He is 76. The stress at Udaipur was on bringing more youngsters and fresh faces into leadership roles.”
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari on Monday argued the Rajya Sabha had stopped doing the functions it was meant for and appeared to take a jibe at his party. “In my personal opinion, Rajya Sabha has stopped carrying out the functions for which it was constituted. Rajya Sabha has now become a parking lot. It needs to be examined whether or not the country needs Rajya Sabha now,” Surjewala told ANI.
Interestingly, Pawan Khera, a national spokesperson of the Congress, on Monday argued for the need to rise above personal ambitions. Khera was one of the most notable 'omissions' from the list of Rajya Sabha nominees. He shared a video on Monday and tweeted “Getting blinded by personal ambition is a luxury you and I cannot afford in this fight. This is a fight bigger than any ambition.”
