New Delhi: Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar may be Congress candidate for Rajya Sabha election from West Bengal. A proposal to field the Dalit leader, who contested the recent Presidential election as the joint candidate of the opposition, came up for discussion at a meeting called by Rahul Gandhi to clinch the ticklish issue of Congress nomination from the state.

The party is keen on backing CPM chief Sitaram Yechury for a third term in the upper House. However, his fate is uncertain as the Left outfit seems unwilling to provide its general secretary a third innings.

If Yechury is not present in the contest, it was proposed that Congress and CPM could find a common ground around a candidate of national stature they have jointly supported in the past.

The proposal was made in the presence of AICC general secretary CP Joshi and Bengal leaders. The other names under consideration include Pradeep Bhattarcharya whose term ends in August. AICC is likely to take a decision after the CPM central committee meeting.