Rajya Sabha deputy chairman election: NCP's Vandana Chavan front runner for the race

The Shiromani Akali Dal was earlier upset with reports of NDA deciding to nominate Harivansh for the contest but Sources told ABP News this morning that the party has given its consent.

Vandana Chavan Facebook page.

New Delhi: Certain media reports on Tuesday said the Opposition chose NCP's Vandana Chavan as its nominee for the post of Rajya Sabha Deputy Speaker. However, Sources have told ABP News that Opposition leaders will meet again at 6 pm in the evening and then announce the joint candidate. The BJP-ruled NDA picked Janata Dal-United MP Harivansh Narayan Singh for the post whose election is slated for August 9. Monsoon Session ends a day after the polls. Talking to reporters, Harivansh said that he was the candidate of the ruling coalition. "I got to know through the media that I am NDA's candidate for the post of Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. I express my gratitude to the parties in the NDA. I am hopeful that I will succeed," he said. Asked about his loss in PAC election, Harivansh said he fought it in his individual capacity. "I am NDA's candidate (Deputy Chairman) and there will be much more support," he said. Interestingly, Harivansh lost badly, getting just 26 votes on Monday in the balloting to fill two vacancies in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). TDP's C.M. Ramesh got the highest 106 votes in the Rajya Sabha and was elected to the PAC. The Bharatiya Janata Party's Bhupender Yadav also made it to the Committee with 69 votes. Harivansh, a first-timer in the Upper House and a former Editor of Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar, said that there should be a consensus on high constitutional posts and urged opposition parties to work in that direction. The JD-U and BJP are partners in the ruling coalition in Bihar. The Shiromani Akali Dal was earlier upset with reports of NDA deciding to nominate Harivansh for the contest but Sources told ABP News this morning that the party has given its consent. Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday announced the dates for the contest between the ruling NDA and a united opposition. The post fell vacant after P.J. Kurien retired in July. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar this morning requested his Telangana counterpart K. Chandrasekhar Rao to extend support to his party's candidate. Reports also said that Kumar will be making a telephone call to Odisha Chief minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik seeking support. Ghulam Nabi Azad will also be speaking to Patnaik to get support of BJD's nine MPs. On Monday, Congress leaders Anand Sharma, Ahmed Patel and Kapil Sibal, Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav, TMC's Derek O'Brien, BJP's Satish Chandra Misra, NCP's Praful Patel, RJD's Misa Bharti, DMK's Tiruchi Siva, CPI-M's T.K. Rangarajan, CPI's D. Raja and RSP's N.K. Premachandran also attended the meeting, besides TDP's C.M. Ramesh. DMK's Tiruchi Siva was also being actively considered. The election is likely to be a close affair as the opposition bloc has an edge over the BJP-led NDA in terms of numbers. The outcome will depend on the stance of parties such as BJD, AIADMK, Telangana Rashtra Samiti and YSRC Party -- which could ally with the government in certain situations. Opposition sources told IANS that there were 35 "fence-sitters" and the outcome will depend on their stance. The two large parties in the upper house -- BJP and Congress -- were unlikely to put up any candidate. The parties which would support an opposition nominee include the Congress (50), TMC (14), SP (13), TDP (6), CPI-M (5), CPI (2), DMK (4), NCP (4), AAP (3), BSP (4), RJD (5), PDP (2), JD-S (1), Nominated (1), Kerala Congress-Mani (1) and IUML (1). Vandana Chavan profile: Vandana Chavan was born in Pune. She is married to Hemant Chavan who is a lawyer. Her father Late. Vijayarao Mohite was a veteran lawyer while her mother Mrs. Jayashree Mohite retired as a part-time Lecturer in law. She is married to Hemant Chavan, a Prominent Lawyer. Her sister Vinita Kamte was married to Late. IPS officer Ashok Kamte, who died fighting Lashkar terrorists in 26/11 Mumbai attack. Vandana was thrice elected as Councillor to the Pune Municipal Corporation from the year 1992–2007 and was Mayor of the City in the year 1997-98. She was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council in March 2010. (With additional information from news agency IANS)