DMK MP Tiruchy Siva was the frontrunner for the post before the party passed up the offer.
The DMK, according to party sources, has rejected the Congress’ offer to field a parliamentarian from the regional party as a candidate for the post of Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha. The decision was taken after deliberation at the top level and crunching of numbers to understand if a vote would go the party’s way.
The halfway mark in the Rajya Sabha is 122. Currently, the DMK has seven seats in the Rajya Sabha while the Congress has 40. Even with the combined strength of other UPA allies, this is no to the numbers that the NDA currently holds in the Upper House. The BJP by itself has 87 MLAs in the Rajya Sabha. In addition to this, their allies AIADMK have nine seats and JD (U) have five. Parties like the BJD with nine seats and YSR Congress Party with six seats have also reportedly pledged support to the NDA’s candidate – JD(U)’s Harivansh Narayan Singh, who was the Deputy Chairperson until his term expired earlier this year. Combined, the NDA alliance has over 100 votes in the Rajya Sabha, closer to the halfway mark than the opposition’s.
Given this situation, sources in the DMK say that it was not wise to fight for the post of Deputy Chairperson. Three-time DMK MP Tiruchy Siva was the frontrunner for the post but he was told that the party will not be taking up the offer.
“We didn’t have the numbers to back us up,” says a senior leader in the DMK. “It didn’t make sense to contest without numbers, especially before an Assembly Election,” he adds.
Another issue that the party considered, according to sources, is how the role of a Deputy Chairperson is viewed.
“Taking up such a role will make it look like we are with the establishment and we don’t want that. AIADMK MP Thambidurai was Deputy Speaker before and it seemed like he was part of the BJP itself,” points out a DMK source. “We don’t want to give way for that sentiment. In the past, when Congress wanted to make a DMK MP in the Lok Sabha a Deputy Speaker, we said no. Such roles tend to take the sting out of our anti-establishment stance,” he adds.
The Congress, according to reports, will now be backing RJD MP Manoj Jha for the post.
Source: The News Minute