New Delhi: In Karnataka, BJP has won three Rajya sabha seats and Congress one. The Janata Dal (Secular) drew a blank. BJP candidates Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor-politician Jaggesh and MLC Lehar Singh Siroya won their seats. The Congress’ Jairam Ramesh clinched the fourth seat.
Hours before in the results declared for the seats in Rajasthan, the Congress party bagged three of the four Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan with cross-voting by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators.
Congress’ Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari emerged as winners. Zee chairman Subhash Chandra, backed by the BJP, lost. Ghyansham Tiwari of the BJP clinched the fourth seat.
Counting of votes for the Rajya Sabha elections, which was scheduled to begin at 5 pm on Friday, June 10, was delayed after a complaint was filed by the BJP and Kartikeya Sharma seeking disqualification of two Congress votes.
According to the Indian Express, the BJP delegation led by Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat met the Election Commission in the evening.
Meanwhile, Congress candidate from Haryana, Ajay Maken, has written to the EC, saying that the demand raised by BJP-JJP backed independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma be quashed and the results be declared at the earliest, the Times of India reported.
Voting to elect members to the 16 vacant seats Rajya Sabha seats in four states was held on June 10 till 4 pm. The counting of votes was scheduled to take place at 5 pm.
The 16 seats are up for grabs from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana and Rajasthan. There were a total of 57 vacant seats in the Upper House, across 15 states. In 41 of these, candidates have already won unopposed.
However, each of the four states will see a contest today as there are more candidates than seats available in each of them.
These elections assume greater significance in light of the dates for the next presidential election being announced on June 9, set to take place on July 18.
Rajasthan
In Rajasthan, the four vacant seats were contested by five candidates. Each candidate needed 41 votes to win and the ruling Congress party in the state has 108 MLAs in the assembly compared to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 71.
Of the five candidates, the Congress has nominated three – Randeep Singh Surjewala, the party’s general secretary; Mukul Wasnik, a former Union minister; and former Lok Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot casting his vote in the Rajya Sabha polls. Photo: PTI.
The BJP has fielded only one candidate – Gyansham Tiwari, a former member of the Rajasthan assembly. However, according to a report by the Indian Express, the party is backing independent candidate and Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra, who had earlier claimed that a number of Congress MLAs is “secretly” vote for him.
The Congress government in the state had even imposed a 12-hour internet shutdown in Jaipur’s Amber, where Congress MLAs were staying, from 9 pm on Thursday amidst fears of vote poaching.
Haryana
In Haryana, two seats are up for grabs with three candidates contesting, each requiring 31 votes to win in the 90-member assembly.
The ruling BJP has fielded five-time MLA and former transport minister Krishan Panwar while the Congress has fielded All India Congress Committee general secretary Ajay Maken. Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma, managing director of the ITV network, which owns TV channel NewsX, and son of expelled Congress leader and former Union minister Vinod Sharma.
With 40 MLAs in the assembly, the BJP has a clear majority for Panwar’s seat. The contest for the other vacant seat, however, is a close one. While the Congress has exactly 31 MLAs in the assembly, enough to get Maken the win, fears of cross-voting and an alliance between the remaining BJP MLAs and those of the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), which has 11 seats in the assembly, could provide an upset.
Moreover, Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, disgruntled over being overlooked by the party for the post of state chief, may have a part to play in which candidate wins the contested second seat.
Also read: Haryana Congress a Divided House as Next Assembly Elections Loom Nearer
In addition, there are seven Independent MLAs, six of whom have expressed support for Sharma, according to the Express, and one each from Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Lokhit Party in the Haryana assembly
Karnataka
The four available seats in Karnataka will be contested by six candidates. They will require 45 votes each to win
With 121 seats in the 224-member assembly, the BJP will secure the elections of two of its three candidates – finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor and party spokesperson Jaggesh and member of the Karnataka legislative council, Lahar Singh Siroya.
Likewise, the Congress will win one seat for certain, since it has 70 MLAs in the assembly, for one its two candidates – former environment minister and senior leader, Jairam Ramesh, and Mansoor Ali Khan.
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai casting his vote in the Rajya Sabha polls. Photo: PTI
The contest for the last seat is made more intense by the Janata Dal (Secular) which has 32 seats in the assembly and has fielded Kupendra Reddy, a local real estate baron.
Given the close margins involved for the final seat, intense lobbying has gone on by the parties in recent weeks.
Ahead of the polls, JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy told news agency ANI that he was confident of around 30-31 votes from his MLAs and that MLA K. Srinivasa Gowda had expressed his intention to vote for the Congress.
This, indeed, turned out to be the case as Gowda, who when asked why he voted for the Congress, told NDTV “Because I love it.” Fellow JD(S) MLA Srinivas Gubbi, too, voted for the Congress.
Kumaraswamy also hit out at Congress leader Siddaramaiah for allegedly writing to JD(S) MLAs seeking votes for the Congress and then denying allegations of the same to the media.
Bengaluru | We have confidence that we have 30-31 votes. K Srinivasa Gowda has expressed that he will vote for Congress. Now, let us see: HD Kumaraswamy, JD(S) leader, on the Rajya Sabha elections pic.twitter.com/CmnEBzWNmr
— ANI (@ANI) June 10, 2022
“This shows his double standards,” Kuamraswamy told ANI.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra’s six vacant seats will be contested by seven candidates and 42 votes are needed by each to win.
The members of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, namely the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have 55, 44, and 53 seats respectively.
While the Sena has fielded two candidates – spokesperson Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar – the Congress and NCP have fielded one candidate each – Imran Pratapgadi and Praful Patel respectively.
While each of these parties has enough MLAs to successfully elect their respective candidates, Congress leader and former chief minister, Prithviraj Chavan had earlier issued stern instructions to the party’s MLAs to ensure their candidate is successful.
He also noted that the Shiv Sena was urging its alliance partners to direct their surplus votes towards Sanjay Pawar and that the party would discuss and consider the same.
Meanwhile, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) pledged the support of its two MLAs in the assembly to the MVA.
Two of the NCP’s MLAs – minister Nawab Malik and former home minister Anil Deshmukh – are currently facing charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and are in jail.
Malik had moved the Bombay high court seeking permission to visit the Vidhan Sabha and cast his vote, however, on Friday morning, the court refused to entertain Malik’s plea.
Also read: Bombay HC Rejects Nawab Malik’s Plea to Be Allowed to Vote in Rajya Sabha Polls
Deshmukh, too, moved the court, however, the matter has not yet been listed.
The BJP, on the other hand, has 106 MLAs in the assembly and has fielded three candidates – Union minister Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mhadik. While the saffron party has enough MLAs to secure seats for Goyal and Bonde, Mhadik’s election will feature in the contest with the Sena’s second candidate.
(With PTI inputs)
This story, which was first published on June 10 at 1:15 pm, was subsequently updated with results from Rajasthan and Karnataka.