Subhash Chandra, the chairperson of the Essel Group, is being backed by the BJP.
In a twist to the Rajya Sabha election in Rajasthan, a BJP-backed candidate has made a surprise entry. The eleventh-hour nomination of media baron Subhash Chandra has set up a contest for one of the four Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan.
Subhas Chandra, Zee owner and the chairperson of the Essel Group, is the fifth candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections in Rajasthan.
The Congress is in a position to win two of the four seats in Rajasthan and the BJP, one.
There will now be a contest for the fourth seat with Subhash Chandra's entry. He will challenge the Congress's Pramod Tiwari, who, as an Uttar Pradesh resident, is an "outsider".
The BJP reportedly made a calculated move to leverage the resentment simmering in the state's ruling Congress and the Ashok Gehlot versus Sachin Pilot feud that threatens to explode any time.
The Congress is also facing anger over its choice of Rajya Sabha candidates - all belonging to other states and seen as "outsiders" by local MLAs.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot batted away doubts about Congress prospects. "All three of our candidates will win. BJP fielded Subhash Chandra. They (BJP) know they don't have sufficient votes so what will they do. They will do horse-trading and vitiate the atmosphere in the state," he said.
The three Congress candidates are Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari.
The BJP's candidate is Ghanshyam Tiwari, a former minister of the Vasundhara Raje cabinet.
Subhash Chandra filed his nomination as an independent candidate this afternoon and he was endorsed by BJP MLAs.
In the 200-member Rajasthan assembly, each candidate needs 41 votes to win.
The Congress has 108 MLAs and the BJP has 71 votes. They have 30 surplus votes, but to win a second seat, they need another 11.
To win a third seat, the Congress needs 15 more votes.
Smaller parties and independents will therefore play a critical role in who wins the seat.
There are 13 independents, two Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) members, two of the Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) and two CPM MLAs, who may be the deciding factor.
While the BJP is banking on the independents, the Congress is depending on smaller parties and the Left for support.