BJP gains in Rajya Sabha, wins 12 out of 27 seats across seven states
Polling ended in the crucial election to 27 Rajya Sabha seats in seven states, with a keen contest on cards in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana.
New Delhi: Voting for 27 Rajya Sabha seats were held in seven states (Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Karnataka) on Saturday. In eight other states, 30 candidates have been elected unopposed to the Upper House.
On the elections held on Saturday, BJP succeeded in closing the gaps between number of its members and opposition parties in the Upper House of Parliament. It won all four seats that was up for grab in Rajasthan, won two each in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana besides securing win for one candidate each in UP and Karnataka.
Highlights:
* Main chahata hun ki, jis tarike se hum Haryana ke liye nayi soch leke chalein hain us soch ko hum Majboot kar sakein: Birender Singh, BJP
* In Haryana, 14 votes of Cong getting rejected is surprising. Doubt that few elements in Govt may've done something wrong: Digvijaya Singh
* Rajya Sabha elections: BJP 's Birendra Singh and independent candidate supported by BJP Subhash Chandra win from Haryana.
* All 7 Samajwadi Party candidates win in Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sabha polls, BSP gets 2, BJP and Cong 1 each.
* Union Minister Nirmala Seetharaman and Congress' Jairam Ramesh, Oscar Fernandes and K C Ramamurthy elected to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka.
* Congress candidate Kapil Sibal wins from Uttar Pradesh
* BJP's MJ Akbar and Anil Madhav Dave win from Madhya Pradesh
BJP sweeps all 4 RS seats in Rajasthan
* Congress supported candidate Vivek Tankha wins from Madhya Pradesh
BJP wins both Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand
* BJP wins both Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Mahesh Poddar win
* Rajasthan: Congress-backed Independent candidate Kamal Morarka defeated
Haryana RS results delayed after 16 objections
Counting of votes for the two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana was delayed on Saturday following 16 objections raised by various sides. State Education Minister and senior BJP leader Ram Bilas Sharma said the objections were forwarded to the Election Commission of India (EC) for clearance.
The objections were raised by the ruling BJP, opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and some independents. There were reports that the vote of Congress legislator Randeep Singh Surjewala was cancelled following an objection raised by the BJP chief whip Gian Chand Gupta. Surjewala allegedly showed his vote to another party leader Kiran Chaudhary.
Union Minister for Rural Development Birender Singh, who is a ruling BJP candidate, is sure of getting elected. The fight for the second seat was over two independent candidates - Delhi-based lawyer RK Anand and media baron and Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra.
While Anand was supported by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Chandra had the support of the ruling BJP.
BJP accuses SP MLAs of not allowing to vote
The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha witnessed uproar over voting for 11 Rajya Sabha seats, as the BJP dubbed Samajwadi Party legislators as "acting like goons".
Krishna Paswan, BJP legislator from Khaga assembly constituency accused the SP MLAs of not letting her vote to in the House. "The SP MLAs are acting like goons. Openly, they are involved in hooliganism. They are not letting us cast our votes. They held my hand to refrain me from voting," he said.
"When we went to the Central Secretariat, they told me that they would cast my vote, to which I opposed," she said, adding, "Why should they (SP MLAs) cast my vote, when I can on my own."
They even asked the employees to cover the box with their hands. I was stopped with all the vigour," she further said.
However, terming the allegations levelled by BJP MLAs as baseless, SP leader Gayatri Prasad Prajapati said: "Nobody stopped them ( BJP legislators), voting is peacefully going on. The people who have said these things are wrong."
In Uttar Pradesh, 12 candidates are vying for 11 seats.