New Delhi:
Will it be a triple whammy for Jayanthi Natarajan?
The Congress leader from Tamil Nadu was unceremoniously dumped from the Union Cabinet last month on grounds of "non-performance." Earlier this week, she was removed from the panel of Congress spokespersons in a general election-focused reshuffle.
Now, she faces the prospect of losing her seat in the Rajya Sabha.
Union shipping minister G K Vasan, another Congress member from Tamil Nadu, and former union minister Murli Deora too are expected not to figure on the list of candidates being finalized by the Congress for the biennial polls elections to the Rajya Sabha.
Mr Deora, a Maharashtra Congressman, has cited his age and ill-health to opt out of the polls. Ms Natarajan and Mr Vasan are likely to be left out because the Congress does not have the numbers in the Tamil Nadu assembly to get any of its candidates elected.
In the assembly election held in 2011, the Congress could only win five seats in Tamil Nadu. Its alliance with the DMK has collapsed. The party brass, thus, has no option but to drop them from the list of probable nominees.
55 members are retiring from the Rajya Sabha in April this year. If necessary, elections to fill up these vacancies will be held on February 9. The Congress' share in the list of outgoing members is 18. It can hope to retain 16 of these on the basis of its strength in the state assemblies.
T Subbirami Reddy, another former union minister, too is unlikely to be renominated by the Congress leadership. He is one of the five retiring party members from Andhra Pradesh.
Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, 85, who represents Chhattisgarh in the Rajya Sabha, is among the members who are likely to be sent back to the House of Elders.
The Congress leader from Tamil Nadu was unceremoniously dumped from the Union Cabinet last month on grounds of "non-performance." Earlier this week, she was removed from the panel of Congress spokespersons in a general election-focused reshuffle.
Now, she faces the prospect of losing her seat in the Rajya Sabha.
Union shipping minister G K Vasan, another Congress member from Tamil Nadu, and former union minister Murli Deora too are expected not to figure on the list of candidates being finalized by the Congress for the biennial polls elections to the Rajya Sabha.
Mr Deora, a Maharashtra Congressman, has cited his age and ill-health to opt out of the polls. Ms Natarajan and Mr Vasan are likely to be left out because the Congress does not have the numbers in the Tamil Nadu assembly to get any of its candidates elected.
In the assembly election held in 2011, the Congress could only win five seats in Tamil Nadu. Its alliance with the DMK has collapsed. The party brass, thus, has no option but to drop them from the list of probable nominees.
55 members are retiring from the Rajya Sabha in April this year. If necessary, elections to fill up these vacancies will be held on February 9. The Congress' share in the list of outgoing members is 18. It can hope to retain 16 of these on the basis of its strength in the state assemblies.
T Subbirami Reddy, another former union minister, too is unlikely to be renominated by the Congress leadership. He is one of the five retiring party members from Andhra Pradesh.
Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, 85, who represents Chhattisgarh in the Rajya Sabha, is among the members who are likely to be sent back to the House of Elders.
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