Thiruvananthapuram: All eyes are on 81-year-old Congress veteran A.K. Antony whether he will get yet another term in the Upper House, as he along with two others are from Kerala — K. Somaprasad (CPI-M) and M.V. Shreyams Kumar — whose term ends on April 2. Elections to the three Rajya Sabha seats will be held on March 31.
Antony, a three time Kerala Chief Minister, holds the record for being the longest serving Defence Minister from 2006 to 2014.
Antony has been in the Upper House from 2005 onwards and prior to that from 1985 to 1995.
Though in the recent past, he dropped enough hints that he is not interested to continue in Delhi, it’s still not clear if he will seek another term but, he is certainly going to abide by the Party High Command’s decision.
With the ruling Pinarayi Vijayan government enjoying a full majority in the 140-member Assembly, it’s a foregone conclusion that the Left Democratic Front will win two Rajya Sabha seats and there is going to be hectic bargaining as media baron Kumar who also heads the Loktantrik Janata Dal replacing his father M.P. Veerendra Kumar following his death in 2020, is keen to get a full term.
But with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan keen to consolidate his position in the national unit of the CPI-M, is keeping his cards close to his chest and might place his hands on both the seats to increase the red party’s strength in Delhi, which is appallingly low with 6 in the Upper House and three in the Lok Sabha.
–IANS
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