Congress dominates Karnataka, BJP wins one seat
Our Correspondents
BJP humbled Congress nominee in Himachal polls as cross voting by 9 Congress MLA dashed Abhishek Manu Singhvi hope.
It’s last minute thriller, in Himachal Pradesh, BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan won the lone Rajya Sabha seat, defeating the ruling Congress candidate, Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur as expected was jubilant and claimed, “…I can see that the Congress government has lost the majority”.
During a press conference with the Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Abhishek Manu Singhvi congratulated the BJP candidate while confirming that nine Congress MLAs had cross-voted.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has alleged that Haryana Police has taken away 5-6 Congress MLAs to Haryana’s Panchkula.
Karnataka may have witnessed cross-voting by two MLAs. According to sources, BJP’s ST Somashekar and Independent MLA G Janardhana Reddy may have voted in the Congress candidate’s favour. Congress won three seats in Karnataka with Congress treasurer Ajay Maken, Nasser Hussain, and G C Chandrashekar securing victory, while BJP’s Narayansa Bhandage won one seat. JD(S) leader D Kupendra Reddy lost, garnering only 36 votes.At least seven Samajwadi Party MLAs, namely Rakesh Pandey, Abhay Singh, Rakesh Pratap Singh, Manoj Pandey, Vinod Chaturvedi, Puja Pal, Ashutosh Maurya may have cross voted in favour of NDA, sources said. In addition to this, a BSP MLA may also have voted for the BJP.The vote counting process has temporarily been halted in Uttar Pradesh after NDA ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party’s Om Prakash Rajbhar raised objections about BSP MLA Jagdish Rai’s vote. It was alleged that Rai cast his vote without showing his voting preference to the nominated polling agents.
In Uttar Pradesh, several prominent Samajwadi Party leaders openly sided with the BJP and fuelled speculation that they cross-voted.Manoj Pandey, who quit as chief whip of the Samajwadi Party in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, was among five SP MLAs who met with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday.Out of the 56 Rajya Sabha seats that had gone to polls on Tuesday, 41 members had virtually secured their seats in the Upper House.In Rajasthan, Sonia Gandhi was elected unopposed and so were BJP’s Chunnilal Garasiya and Madan Rathore.
JP Nadda was nominated as the party’s candidate from the seat that fell vacant in Gujarat and was elected unopposed.Similarly, Railway and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was elected for a second time to the Upper House with support from the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) from Odisha.