Anand Sharma

New Delhi, March 18: The re-nomination of commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma to the Rajya Sabha has become a complex affair for Sonia Gandhi.

Sharma is retiring on April 2. He had been elected in 2004 from his home state Himachal Pradesh where the Congress is no longer in a position to win any seat.

But Sonia is keen to retain him and she will avoid the embarrassment of losing a prominent minister within months of the ministry’s formation.

The party has already announced candidates for vacancies in April in Assam, Punjab, Kerala and Nagaland.

The Congress does not have the strength to win seats in two states having vacancies in April — Tripura and Himachal. This makes it clear that Sharma will have to wait a little longer after his retirement to be re-elected to the Upper House, though he need not resign. A minister has a six-month cushion for getting elected to either House of Parliament.

Other vacancies in the near future where the Congress can create an opportunity for him will be in Madhya Pradesh in June, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan in July and Haryana in August.

Punjab, too, will have a vacancy for the Congress in July, which will go to Ambika Soni.

According to sources, another senior leader whom Sonia would like to accommodate in one of these states is Satish Sharma, who cannot be re-elected from Uttarakhand, which he represents now.

Anand Sharma’s best chance, the sources said, is from Madhya Pradesh where the Congress can win one of the three vacant seats. What makes his case stronger from Madhya Pradesh is a tale of internal intrigue.

The strongest claimant is state party president Suresh Pachauri, who is desperate to quit state politics.

The sources revealed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would like to have an experienced person like Pachauri in his government as he was unhappy with the floor management in Parliament in the first half of the budget session.

The embarrassment on the nuclear liability bill exposed the limitations of the present team in the parliamentary affairs ministry. Pachauri was looking after parliamentary affairs and personnel in the UPA’s first term.

Sensing the possibility, Pachauri’s rivals turned active and suggested Anand Sharma’s candidature from Madhya Pradesh. Anand Sharma, who as spokesperson defended Rajiv Gandhi in his worst times, enjoys the blessings of Sonia and has got only one Rajya Sabha term.

Pachauri has already won four terms — 24 years in the Rajya Sabha — without ever winning an election.

One powerful lobby also apprehends that Pachauri will get a perch in the AICC if he gets a Rajya Sabha term, even if he fails to join the government.

The main factor going against him is the presence of two senior leaders from Madhya Pradesh — Digvijay Singh and Satyavrat Chaturvedi — in the AICC set-up. While Digvijay is a powerful general secretary, Satyavrat is on a par as in-charge of AICC departments and cells.

Caste-wise too, Pachauri’s accommodation will be difficult as Janardan Dwivedi and Satyavrat are Brahmins.

Although the same lobby that is blocking Pachauri plotted to drive Satyavrat out of the AICC in the Sharad Pawar row, he was allotted a spanking new office — probably the best — in the AICC amid reports of his removal as spokesperson in a clear indication of his undiminished clout. It will be very difficult for Sonia to accommodate all the three Brahmins.

In this political jumble, Anand Sharma may be the ultimate beneficiary.