(From top) Patil, Sayeed, Oscar: Not in House cast

New Delhi, May 24: Three of the so-called lucky Union ministers from the Congress have a common problem.

Home minister Shivraj Patil, power minister P.M. Sayeed and minister of state for statistics and programme implementation Oscar Fernandes are not members of either House of Parliament.

Patil and Sayeed lost the Lok Sabha elections from Latur in Maharashtra and Lakshadweep. Oscar’s Rajya Sabha term ended on April 2.

Informed sources said Sayeed could be brought to the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh. After the Congress’ sweep in the Andhra elections, the party is in a position to win as many as five of the six vacant Upper House seats from the state.

Domicile status is no longer necessary to contest Rajya Sabha elections from outside the home state after the recent amendment to the Representation of People’s Act, sources said. So, there would be no problem in getting Sayeed into the Upper House, they added.

Patil is certain to be fielded for the Rajya Sabha polls from his home state of Maharashtra. His election is a foregone conclusion as the Congress-NCP combine is comfortably placed in the Assembly to elect at least four MPs to the Upper House, sources said.

Oscar, too, would be brought back to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, though the Congress lost heavily in the Assembly elections there. With just 64 members in the 224-strong Assembly, the party is assured of winning only one seat. “Oscar will be the first-preference candidate,” a source said.

Elections to the 60 seats that have either fallen vacant or will become vacant early next month would be held on June 21, the Election Commission announced today.

The Upper House elections have thrown up opportunities, too, for some influential Congress leaders to make a bid to enter Parliament.

Sources said Salman Khursheed, a working committee member, stood a chance to enter the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.

The party has just 16 MLAs in the Assembly, but Salman is apparently assured of support from the 14-member Rashtriya Lok Dal led by Ajit Singh and a couple of associate members of his party. The combined strength would be just about enough to win a seat.

Salman, who was widely seen as a potential candidate for the foreign minister’s job, missed out on being considered for the post because he is not an MP.

There is also talk that AICC secretary Jairam Ramesh could stand a chance to enter Parliament from Karnataka if the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) manage to form a coalition government in the state.

He narrowly missed the opportunity to enter the Upper House three years ago after his own party leaders in the state opposed his candidature.