Blow to Cong as two DMK candidates file nominations for RS bypolls

Negotiations by the Congress with former ally DMK to vacate a seat for the former came to nought as two DMK candidates filed nominations for the Rajya Sabha seat, dashing the hopes of the Congress and many ticket aspirants.
Though the Congress reminded the DMK of an unwritten deal during the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, the latter did not relent. The two DMK candidates -- Kanimozhi Somu and Rajeshkumar -- have filed their nominations.

The Congress will now get only one seat of the 7 RS seats going to the polls of which six are bypoll seats.

The Congress has named former MP Rajani Patil as its candidate for the October 4 by-election to the RS seat from Maharashtra, leaving many formidable contenders disappointed.

The by-election was necessitated after the demise of sitting MP Rajeev Satav due to Covid-19 in May this year.

The 62-year-old Patil, who is considered close to the Gandhi family, has pipped several senior leaders like former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Mukul Wasnik, Avinash Pande, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Rajiv Shukla and even Satav's widow Pradnya, who was recently appointed the Maharashtra Congress Vice-President.

Hailing from Pune, Patil has earlier served as the Himachal Pradesh Congress in-charge and has currently been appointed the All India Congress Committee In-charge of Jammu and Kashmir - IANS