CONGRESS T0 MAKE TOUGH CHOICES AMID RUSH FOR RS BERTHS

Congress is set to lose six Rajya Sabha seats but likely to win nine: from Karnataka, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana.

- ANAND SINGH NEW DELHI

With at least six Rajya Sabha berths getting vacated from the Congress next year and the party likely to winatleast nine, many of the grand old party's leaders are looking to seize the opportunity — including some who have been known for their failures but are said to be in the good books of the Gandhi family.

According to party sourees, leaders like Sachin Rao, Krishna Allavaru, Meenakshi Natrajan, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, Pawan Khera, Supriya Shrinate, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, K. Raju and T. S. Singh Deo are in the race for berths in the Upper House, where party veterans such as Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Digvijaya Singh, Shakti Singh Gohil, Salman Khurshid and Anand Sharmaarealso hoping to make areturn.

In the biennial election for the Rajya Sabha early next year, the Congress is set to lose six seats but is likely to win nine — three from Karnataka, two from Telangana, and one each from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.