Elections were held for 19 Rajya Sabha seats on Friday and now the results are out. While the BJP won 8 seats, the Congress and YSRCP won 4 each. But the election was not devoid of drama.
In Gujarat, BJP has managed to hold on to three seats with Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin emerging victorious. Congress candidate Shaktisinh Gohil won the fourth. Two legislators of the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP); Chhotu Vasava from Jhagadia constituency in Bharuch and his son Mahesh from Dediapada constituency in Narmada, reportedly abstained from voting.
It is noteworthy that Vasava is at the forefront of the tribal agitation against land acquisition by Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd. (SSNNL). Therefore, despite arriving in town to vote, the MLAs first demanded an assurance from both parties to implement not on Schedule 5 of the Constitution, but also provisions of Panchayats Extensions to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act in order to protect affected tribal communities. In the absence of any assurance, they chose to abstain from voting.
Meanwhile, in Manipur, where the BJP led state government is on the verge of collapse in wake of resignations of 3 BJP MLAs and withdrawal of support from 6 alliance MLAs, the contest for the single seat got exciting. While the Congress earlier had the numbers to help their candidate get elected, Speaker Y Khemchand disqualified three Congress MLAs and a TMC MLA just before the election. This, along with cross voting, helped the BJP candidate win.
Disqualification petitions had been pending before the Speaker for seven MLAs and the matter was set to be discussed on June 22. But the speaker brought forward the date to June 19. However, the High Court had previously ordered the Speaker to announce the disqualifications only after June 19. Meanwhile, 2 Congress MLAs voted for the BJP candidate Leisemba Sanajaoba, and erstwhile royal Leisemba Sanajaoba thus ended up bagging 28 votes, while Congress candidate Tongram Mangibabu Singh got 24.
It was smooth sailing as predicted for the YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh where the party bagged all four seats. In Jharkhand Shibu Soren also sailed through easily, though the state’s second seat went to BJP’s Deepak Prakash. In Rajasthan, Congress candidate Neeraj Dangi and KC Venugopal emerged victorious. In Madhya Pradesh, while Congress heavyweight Digvijay Singh won a seat, the other two went to the BJP’s Madhavrao Scindia and Sumer Singh Solanki.
The lone Mizoram seat went to the ruling party Mizo National Front (MNF) candidate K Vanlalvena. In Meghalaya, Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) candidate Dr WR Kharlukhi won the single RS seat, defeating Congress candidate Kennedy Khyriem.
Polling did not take place in Arunachal Pradesh as BJP nominee Nabam Rebia was previously declared elected unopposed. Similarly, in Karnataka, elections were not held in four seats where former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, and BJP candidates Iranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti, were declared elected unopposed.
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