Ex Odisha Cong in-charge Hariprasad is opposition nominee for Rajya Sabha Dy Chairman

New Delhi: Congress today declared Rajya Sabha MP and former Odisha Congress in-charge B.K. Hariprasad as the opposition candidate for the post to the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman.

Hariprasad, who is into his third term in the Rajya Sabha, hails from Karnataka and has been a Congress General Secretary.

Talking to reporters, Congress leader Anand Sharma said that five sets of nomination papers – five proposers and five seconders – were filed by the combined opposition.

He said leaders of opposition parties in Delhi were present at the time of filing nominations.

“Hariprasadji is a senior parliamentarian. This is his third term in Parliament. It is a joint decision of parties which have been meeting and deliberating for the last few days,” Sharma said.

Several opposition parties decided to field a joint candidate to take on the NDA nominee, Harivansh Narayan Singh of the Janata Dal (United), for the August 9 election.

Meanwhile, Narendra Modi-led BJP government has sought support from the regional political parties including AIADMK, TRS and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) to pave the way for clean sweep for the government’s candidate in the election scheduled tomorrow. The government needs 123 votes in the 245-member house to win the election.

[With IANS input]