Polling was held for 11 Rajya Sabha seats across three states – Bihar (5), Odisha (4) and Haryana (2) – after more candidates than vacancies entered the fray. Of the 37 seats notified across 10 states, 26 had already been elected unopposed.
In Bihar, the BJP-led NDA comfortably secured its numbers after several Opposition MLAs stayed away from voting. Despite backing from Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM and the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Mahagathbandhan failed to reach the winning mark of 41 votes for a seat.
Four of its MLAs – three from Congress and one from RJD – skipped voting, effectively denting the Opposition’s prospects. The absentees included Congress MLAs Surendra Prasad Kushwaha, Manoj Bishwas and Manohar Prasad Singh, along with RJD legislator Faisal Rahman.
Six candidates were contesting five seats in the state. From BJP its chief Nitin Nabin and Shivesh Kumar, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Union minister Ramnath Thakur as JDU ‘s nominee and RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha as NDA’s fifth nominee while AD Singh was contesting on RJD ticket.
In Odisha, cross-voting by Opposition legislators helped BJP-backed Independent candidate and former Union minister Dilip Ray win the keenly-contested fourth seat. BJP candidates Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar secured victory comfortably, while BJD nominee Santrupta Mishra also won a seat.
The contest for the final seat in Odisha turned dramatic after several legislators from BJD and Congress allegedly voted in favour of Ray. BJD’s deputy chief whip Pratap Keshari Deb said eight party MLAs cross-voted for the BJP-backed independent candidate. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das claimed that three Congress MLAs – Ramesh Jena, Dasarathi Gomango and Sofia Firdous – also voted for the BJP-backed candidate.In the 147-member Odisha Assembly, BJP has 79 MLAs along with the support of three Independents, while BJD has 48 members following the suspension of two of its legislators. The Congress has 14 MLAs and CPI(M) one.
According to the Rajya Sabha electoral formula, a candidate requires 30 first-preference votes to secure a seat.
Meanwhile, counting in Haryana was halted after both BJP and Congress alleged that votes cast by the rival camp were invalid. The contest in the state involved BJP nominee Sanjay Bhatia, Congress candidate Karamvir Singh Boudh and Independent Satish Nandal, who is backed by the BJP.
The Indian National Lok Dal, which has two MLAs in the assembly, abstained from voting, adding another layer of uncertainty to the closely-watched contest.
Kharge writes to EC alleging RS poll interference in Haryana
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday wrote to the Election Commission regarding the Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana, alleging that there was a clear attempt to interfere with the integrity of the election which must be redressed.
In the letter addressed to CEC Gyanesh Kumar and two election commissioners, the Congress chief has also requested the Election Commission that the legitimate votes of Congress legislators in Haryana should not be disqualified.
The BJP has complained to the poll authority pertaining to “violation of vote secrecy” of two Congress MLAs.
