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Voting for the three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh in which two BJP candidates senior journalist MJ Akbar and Anil Dave and Congress nominee Vivek Tankha are in the fray, began on Saturday with MLA Ramniwas Rawat casting the first ballot at the State legislative assembly here. After Rawat who is the Congress chief whip in the State Assembly, BJP MLA Girish Gautam cast his vote. In the polling, 228 members of the House are expected to take part. The election that began here at 9 am will end at 4 pm after which the counting of votes is scheduled to begin at 5 pm, Rajya Sabha returning officer in MP Bhagwandev Israni told PTI. Besides the three official candidates, a BJP leader Vinod Gotia openly backed by the saffron party too, as an Independent candidate is in the poll ring. He has thrown his hat in the election arena as part of the BJP’s bid to increase its tally in RS where it is in a minority and to defeat Tankha, who right now looks comfortable to sail through to the Upper House with the support of BSP’s four MLAs. Each candidate need 58 votes to go to the Upper House of Parliament. BJP official candidates Akbar and Dave are set to win elections as the saffron party has 164 votes in its kitty now following the death one of its MLAs Rajendra Dadu in a road accident on June 9. The apex court has restrained BJP law maker Rajendra Meshram to vote following a petition. But Gotia’s future looks bleak as even if the 48 surplus votes of BJP goes to Gotia, he won’t scrape through given he needs 10 more ballots to reach the magic number. On the other hand, Congress was having 57 members in the 230 member House. It is short of just one vote. But BSP chief Mayawati has already issued a whip to its four MLAs to salvage Tankha. Meanwhile, all eyes are set on the three Independent MLAs in MP. They have not yet opened their cards regarding which way they will go. Amid charges and counter charges of horse trading, fierce contests are on the cards especially in Karnataka, where a sting by TV channels has indicated that parties have big stakes in the polls for the Rajya Sabha. In an effort to increase its own numerical strength in the Upper House, where the government lacks majority, the BJP has supported some independent candidates to ensure that the Congress is not able to win any extra seat. It has also fielded its candidates in some states to grab seats from others. Allegations of bribing JD(S) and Independent MLAs have marred the polls in Karnataka but the Election Commission has rejected demands for cancelling them. All eyes are on Uttar Pradesh, where elections are being held to 11 seats. Interest is centred around a fight between Sibal and a BJP-backed independent socialite Preeti Mahapatra. Sibal will need the support of BSP, which has 12 votes more than necessary for the success of its own candidates Satish Chandra Mishra and Ashok Sidharth. [caption id=“attachment_2828396” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
A file image of Rajya Sabha. Image courtesy: Screengrab[/caption] BSP supremo Mayawati has maintained suspense over her party’s support in Uttar Pradesh. But Sibal can draw heart from the fact that she has already extended backing for a Congress candidate in Madhya Pradesh by promising one vote required for senior Supreme Court lawyer Vivek Tankha, fielded by Congress. Congress has 29 MLAs and needs the backing of five more to see Sibal through. The ruling SP has fielded seven candidates including Amar Singh and Beni Prasad Verma, who both rejoined the party recently, and Reoti Raman Singh. Its seventh candidate is, however, short of 9 first preference votes. SP has been promised backing by Ajit Singh-led RLD which has 8 MLAs. The BJP has fielded Shiv Pratap Shukla, who is sure to get elected on its own 41 MLAs, and has offered 7 surplus votes to Mahapatra. (More) PTI Team PAL Karnataka, where four seats are up for grab, is poised to witness a battle between the ruling Congress and the JD(S). Union Minister Nirmala Seetharaman of BJP, who needs just one vote more than the party’s strength of 44, and former union ministers Jairam Ramesh and Oscar Fernandes of Congress are sure of victory. The BJP in Uttar Pradesh seems to be more keen to give a strong fight to Congress nominee Kapil Sibal, who also has the support of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). To checkmate BJP, which is sure of sending Union Minister Birender Singh to the Upper House, the Congress on Friday extended support the support of 17 MLAs to Anand, who also has the backing of INLD’s 19 and Akali Dal’s lone MLA. “We will be indulging in strategic voting and will ensure defeat of Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party nominees,” said BJP spokesman in Uttar Pradesh, Vijay Bahadur Pathak. The Congress, however, remained confident of winning the seat for former union minister Sibal from Uttar Pradesh. “We remain confident that both in Karnataka as well as in UP the Congress party will triumph,” party spokesman Manish Tewari said here. Interestingly, the nomination of Preeti Mohapatra as independent candidate in Uttar Pradesh has been proposed by some BJP legislators making it clear that the saffron party does not want to give a cakewalk to Sibal. In Uttar Pradesh, 12 candidates are in the fray for the vacant 11 seats where the ruling Samajwadi Party has fielded seven candidates while the Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded two. The BJP and the Congress have fielded one candidate each. With support of Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal, SP is likely to easily win all the seven seats. The BSP’s two and BJP’s one candidate would also probably sail through easily. In Karnataka, five nominees, including three from Congress and one each from the BJP and Janatal Dal-Secular (JD-S) are in the fray. The candidates are Oscar Fernandes, Jairam Ramesh and K C Ramamurthy (all Congress), Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of BJP and B M Farooq of Janata Dal-Secular. The contest in Karnataka is basically between Congress’s third nominee Ramamurthy and JD-S’ B.M. Farooq. While Ramamurthy will need 12 more votes, Farooq will need five more votes to win as his party has only 40 lawmakers in the house. Polling for four Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan was necessitated as no candidate withdrew their nomination. Four BJP candidates and one Independent candidate, supported by opposition Congress have filed nominations for the four seats. Rajasthan is another state where Congress, with 24 MLAs, has forced a contest by backing an Independent candidate Kamal Morarka. A candidate needs 41 votes to win. With 160 members in Raqjasthan Assembly, the BJP is certain to ensure the victory of Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, its Vice President Om Prakash Mathur, former RBI official Ram Kumar Sharma and Harsh Vardhan Singh, a member of the erstwhile Dungarpur royal family. The fourth BJP candidate needs only four more votes to sail through, which the party expects to get from two MLAs of NUZP and three Independents. Nomination by former Union minister and business tycoon Kamal Morarka on the last day has added more flavour to the contest. Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, BJP national vice president Om Prakash Mathur, former RBI official Ramkumar Verma and member of the erstwhile Dungarpur royal family Harsh Vardhan Singh are the BJP nominees. In Haryana, where the BJP does not have adequate numbers to get two candidates elected, the party has nominated Union Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh as its candidate. With extra votes in hand, the BJP has supported media baron Subhash Chandra, who has filed nomination as an Independent candidate. Senior lawyer R K Anand has also filed nomination in Haryana as an Independent candidate and is banking on support of Congress and opposition Indian National Lok Dal. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has nominated Anil Madhav Dave and M J Akbar as its two candidates for the three vacant seats. With an eye to the third seat, BJP has fielded Vinod Gotiya, a state BJP office bearer, as an Independent candidate. This move of the BJP is seen as a ploy to thwart the election of Congress candidate Vivek Tankha, who is short of only one vote. With eight votes short for Gotia’s victory, the BJP is aiming to garner support of BSP and Independent members. In Jharkhand, where the BJP is assured of Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi being elected to the first seat, it has chosen its second nominee as Mahesh Poddar, an industrialist. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has fielded Basant Soren, son of its chief Shibu Soren. The Congress, which has not fielded any candidate has given support to Soren. Two of the six Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand are getting vacant this time with BJP’s M J Akbar and Congress’s Dheeraj Sahu completing their respective terms. In Uttarakhand, where the BJP’s move to dislodge the Harish Rawat government did not pay off, it has not nominated any candidate. However, its two leaders Gita Thakur and Anil Goel have filed nominations as Independents against Pradeep Tamta, the joint candidate of the Congress and PDF (Peoples Democratic Front). Despite BJP’s efforts to win extra seats in these polls, the Congress will continue to remain the single-largest party in the 245-member House. The biennial elections were necessitated as 55 members from 15 states are retiring between June and August. One seat each from Rajasthan and Karnataka have also been vacated — by Anand Sharma (Congress) and Vijay Mallya (Independent), respectively — and will also go for polls. Thirty candidates from various political parties were already declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from their eight respective states in the absence of more contenders. With inputs from PTI and IANS
As it happened: BJP makes significant advances in Rajya Sabha election
A down-to-the-wire contest is likely in some of the seats in the high-stakes Rajya Sabha elections in seven states today, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana, where the fate of candidates including senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal and senior lawyer R K Anand will be decided.
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BJP narrows gap with Congress
The BJP made significant gains in the Rajya Sabha by winning 12 seats on Saturday, thus marginally narrowing the gap with the opposition Congress in the upper house where the ruling party is in a minority, IANS reported.
Shivaji’s descendent nominated to Rajya Sabha
President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday nominated social worker Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati to the Rajya Sabha.
Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati is the 13th descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji. He was nominated to fill the vacancy of a nominated member, said an official statement.
IANS
BJP jubilant in Rajasthan
In Rajasthan, there was jubilation in the BJP camp after declaration of the result, with party MLAs and workers setting off firecrackers and dancing.
“I want to thank the people of Rajasthan; and as an MP from the state I will try to work towards development of the state,” Om Mathur told reporters.
IANS
Cross-voting helps BJP win in Jharkhand
The ruling BJP clinched both Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand on Saturday as cross-voting helped the party to defeat the united opposition, reports IANS.
Subhash Chandra elected to Rajya Sabha
Media baron Subhash Chandra was on Saturday elected to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana.
Chandra, an independent candidate supported by the BJP, scraped through amid political drama during the vote count.
Assembly sources said 13 votes of Congress legislators were rejected following Saturday’s polling. He defeated Delhi-based lawyer and INLD supported candidate R.K. Anand.
Union minister Birender Singh was also elected to the Rajya Sabha. He secured 40 votes.
IANS
Nirmala Sitharaman, Jairam Ramesh win Rajya Sabha election from Karnataka
Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress’ Jairam Ramesh, Oscar Fernandes and K C Ramamurthy elected to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka.
PTI
Naqvi, MJ Akbar emerge victorious
The BJP’s senior leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has won the Rajya Sabha election from Jharkhand. Also, MJ Akbar won the polls from Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile, all seven candidates from the Samajwadi Party won in Uttar Pradesh.
Venkaiah Naidu wins RS election
Venkaiah Naidu, OP Mathur and two BJP candidates have won the Rajya Sabha elections in Rajasthan: NDTV
Congress candidate wins in Uttarakhand
Congress’s Pradeep Tamta wins lone Rajya Seat from Uttarakhand defeating independent candidate Anil Goel.
PTI
Electoral battle for 3 seats in MP
Madhya Pradesh MLAs on Saturday voted for the three Rajya Sabha seats from the state for which there are four candidates. The results are likely to be out by the evening.
Out of 230 members of the state assembly, 228 are expected to vote. One member died on Thursday in a road accident and another has been denied permission by the Supreme Court to vote.
One of the 228 MLAs — Congress leader Satyadev Katare who is also Leader of the Opposition in the assembly — has been allowed to take part in polling through postal ballot.
IANS
BJP Panchkula MLA seeks cancellation of votes
BJP legislature party chief whip and Panchkula MLA Gian Chand Gupta on Saturday sought cancellation of votes cast by a Congress MLA and an INLD legislature for allegedly violating rules.
Talking to media here, Gupta alleged that Congress MLA Randeep Singh Surjewala showed his vote to another party MLA Kiran Chaudhary during the polling for the biennial elections today.
However, Surjewala denied the charge.
PTI
Cross-voting in UP
In an instance of cross-voting, BJP MLA from Gorakhpur Rural Vijay Bahadur Yadav said that he voted for the Samajwadi Party candidate, and that he made his decision on the basis of development done by the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, as per a report in The Hindu.
Much at stake for Congress, BJP
Out of 57 seats for which elections are being held, the Congress and BJP hold 14 seats each. Six ministers, including Nirmala Sitharaman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Piyush Goyal are seeking their return, as reported by NDTV.
Congress spooked by rumours of cross-voting?
Amid allegations of cross-voting, the Congress has roped in senior leaders as observers to keep a tab on their MLAs, DNA reported.
Violence mars polling in Uttar Pradesh
Violence marred polling in Uttar Pradesh, as members of the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party engaged in a violence scuffle. The violence was brought to and end only when the legislative assembly principal secretary and returning officer Pradeep Dubey intervened, as per a Hindustan Times report.
JMM MLA arrested in 2013 case
Even as Rajya Sabha elections for two seats are going on in Jharkhand, an MLA from the state has been arrested in a 2013 case in which he was allegedly involved in a minor scuffle, PTI reported. JMM MLA Chamra Linda was facing an arrest warrant in a 2013 case.
Congress candidates to benefit from BSP support
BSP chief Mayawati may well be facilitating the victory of Congress candidates, even though she did not make a formal statement to that effect. Former Union Minister Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha of the Congress are expected to benefit from the BSP’s support, The Indian Express reported.
Polling underway for 3 Rajya Sabha seats in MP
Voting for the three RS seats from Madhya Pradesh in which two BJP candidates MJ Akbar and Anil Dave and Congress nominee Vivek Tankha are in the fray, began today with MLA Ramniwas Rawat casting the first ballot at the State legislative assembly here.
After Rawat who is the Congress chief whip in the State Assembly, BJP MLA Girish Gautam cast his vote, PTI reported. In the polling, 228 members of the House are expected to take part.
The election that began here at 9 am will end at 4 pm after which the counting of votes is scheduled to begin at 5 pm, RS returning officer in MP Bhagwandev Israni told PTI.
Besides the three official candidates, a BJP leader Vinod Gotia openly backed by the saffron party too, as an Independent candidate is in the poll ring. He has thrown his hat in the election arena as part of the BJP’s bid to increase its tally in RS where it is in a minority and to defeat Tankha, who right now looks comfortable to sail through to the Upper House with the support of BSP’s four MLAs.
Each candidate need 58 votes to go to the Upper House of Parliament.
BJP official candidates Akbar and Dave are set to win elections as the saffron party has 164 votes in its kitty now following the death one of its MLAs Rajendra Dadu in a road accident on June 9. The apex court has restrained BJP law maker Rajendra Meshram to vote following a petition.
But Gotia’s future looks bleak as even if the 48 surplus votes of BJP goes to Gotia, he won’t scrape through given he needs 10 more ballots to reach the magic number.
On the other hand, Congress was having 57 members in the 230 member House. It is short of just one vote.
But BSP chief Mayawati has already issued a whip to its four MLAs to salvage Tankha.
Meanwhile, all eyes are set on the three Independent MLAs in MP. They have not yet opened their cards regarding which way they will go.
BJP official candidates Akbar and Dave are set to win elections as the saffron party has 164 votes in its kitty now following the death one of its MLAs Rajendra Dadu in a road accident on June 9. The apex court has restrained BJP law maker Rajendra Meshram to vote following a petition.
But Gotia’s future looks bleak as even if the 48 surplus votes of BJP goes to Gotia, he won’t scrape through given he needs 10 more ballots to reach the magic number.
Meanwhile, all eyes are set on the three Independent MLAs in MP. They have not yet opened their cards regarding which way they will go.
Bhimtal MLA Bhandari, BJP candidate, resigns
The BJP got another setback on Friday with its Bhimtal MLA Dan Singh Bhandari tendering his resignation from the membership of the Assembly to Speaker Kunjwal late on Friday. According to PTI, in his resignation to the Speaker, Bhandari had urged him to accept his resignation with immediate effect.
Bhandari’s resignation mentions no reason for doing so.
In the House with an effective strength of 59 any side will need 30 votes to emerge the winner.
Bhimtal MLA Bhandari, BJP candidate, resigns
The BJP got another setback on Friday with its Bhimtal MLA Dan Singh Bhandari tendering his resignation from the membership of the Assembly to Speaker Kunjwal late on Friday. According to PTI, in his resignation to the Speaker, Bhandari had urged him to accept his resignation with immediate effect.
Bhandari’s resignation mentions no reason for doing so.
In the House with an effective strength of 59 any side will need 30 votes to emerge the winner.
Polling for lone RS seat from Uttarakhand concludes
Polling for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Uttarakhand was held amid tight security at the state Assembly here today with Chief Minister Harish Rawat and Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal among the first to cast their votes.
Polling which began at 9 am concluded at about 12:20 pm, much before its scheduled conclusion at 4 pm. However, counting of ballots will begin after 4 pm, Secretary Vidhan Sabha Jagdish Chandra said.
Security around the Assembly premises was tightened with heavy deployment of security personnel around the building. Congress’s Pradeep Tamta and BJP backed Independent Anil Goel are taking on each other to grab the seat which falls vacant with BJP member Tarun Vijay’s tenure getting over next month.
Numerically, 26-member Congress with the support of six-member PDF appears to have an edge on rival BJP which is left with 27 MLAs after the disqualification of Ghansali legislator Bhimlal Arya under the anti-defection law on Thursday for going against the party whip and crossvoting during the floor test on 10 May.
PTI
All eyes on BJP-backed Preeti Mahapatra
All eyes are focused on BJP-backed independent candidate Preeti Mahapatra, a businesswoman from Gujarat, whose presence has made election to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh interesting polling for which was underway in Lucknow on Saturday. Her nomination, in fact, had necessitated the polling.
Focus is also set on three independent MLAs in Madhya Pradesh. They are yet to reveal their cards. Returning officer for the polls in Madhya Pradesh, Bhagwandev Israni, told PTI that counting of votes is scheduled to begin at 5 pm.
Karnataka: Revanna seeks CBI probe after verbal duel with Shivakumar
After having a verbal duel with energy minister D K Shivakumar over seeking assistance of Congress MLC Govindaraj by Congress MLA G Ramakrishna for casting his vote, JD(S) leader H D Revanna has sought a CBI probe in the manner in which polls were conducted, a report in The Hindu said.
Voting over in Haryana
According to reports, all 90 lawmakers have cast their votes in Haryana. Ballot box has been sealed and will be opened at 4 pm for counting.
One INLD lawmaker cast his vote in favour of BJP-supported candidate, reports said.
Cross-voting likely in Karnataka
With the Congress eyeing three of the four seats of the Rajya Sabha in the biennial elections from the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Saturday, legislators of the faction-ridden JD(S) are likely to indulge in cross-voting, The Hindu reported.
Along with JD(S) MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, who has openly raised the banner of revolt against the party leadership, a few more JD(S) legislators are expected to support the third candidate of the Congress.
BJP, Cong has fielded moneybags in Rajya Sabha polls: Sharad Yadav
Emphasising on the role played by “cash” in the Rajya Sabha polls, JD(U) MP Sharad Yadav on Saturday told ANI many moneybags are contesting in this poll as both the BJP and the Congress have fielded cash-rich candidates.
“In this poll, many moneybags are standing. Both the BJP and the Congress Party have fielded moneyed candidates. Though there is nothing new in this, as this has been practised since long, but now it has reached to its pinnacle.”
Maintaining that the solution to this problem lies with people only, Yadav said, “The people will treat this problem by way of their mandate. The Election Commission or law does not have a solution to this chronic problem.”
Rajasthan
Leader of opposition Rameshwar Dusi cast the first vote followed by former CM Ashok Gehlot, the assembly spokesperson said. In the house of 200, the ruling BJP has 160 members and Congress 24. National Peoples Party has four, BSP has three, National Unionist Zamindara Party has two and seven are independents.
Union minister Venkaiah Naidu, BJP’s national Vice President Om Prakash Mathur, former RBI official Ramkumar Sharma and member of erstwhile Dungarpur royal family Harsh Vardhan Singh are the BJP candidates whereas Kamal Morarka filed nomination papers as independent candidate.
Voting underway in Madhya Pradesh assembly in Bhopal
Results will be announced by 6.30 pm
Reports said that the results for the Rajya Sabha elections will be announced today at around 6.30 pm.
Earlier, verbal spat between Samajwadi Party lawmaker Hazi Zamerullah Khan and BJP’s Raghunandan Singh Badauriya over their candidates dirupted the elections for a while, ANI reported.
In Uttar Pradesh, BJP lawmaker alleged obstruction in voting. She claimed that lawmakers from ruling Samajwadi Party were blocking the voting compartment and she had to complain to officials to cast her vote.
ANI reported that BJP legislator Krishna Paswan called SP MLAs “goons” and accused them of not allowing the BJP lawmakers to cast vote.
Arguments inside polling booth in Karnataka’s Gulbarga
Independent MLA Ramkrishna was about to cast vote when former PM HD Devegowda’s son Revanna alleged that he was being forced to cast vote in favour of the Congress.
Congress moves Supreme Court over arrest warrants issued against Jharkhand MLAs
The BJP government in Jharkhand is getting arrest warrants issued against opposition legislators to prevent them from voting in the Rajya Sabha elections, the Congress said on Saturday. The Raghubar Das government “is trying to strangle democracy by issuing warrants against legislators who have a right to vote”, Congress spokesman Ajay Kumar told reporters here.
“This is done at the instruction of the central government,” he said. There was much commotion on Friday night at Medica Hospital here where Chamra Linda, a legislator from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), is being treated.
The police reached the hospital with a warrant to arrest Linda in a case going back to 2013. The Congress and JMM leaders gathered at the hospital to oppose the arrest. Warrants have also been issued against two Congress legislators, Nirmala Devi and Devendra Singh. The police visited on Friday Devendra Singh’s home in Palamau district but could not find him there.
Informed sources said both Devendra Singh and Nirmala Devi have gone “underground” but may turn up for voting. Police personnel have been deployed outside the assembly to arrest them.