RS polls: Defeat for Congress in Himachal, 3 seats in Karnataka
The Rajya Sabha election for the lone seat in Himachal Pradesh turned out to be a thriller on Tuesday as the BJP pulled off an unseemingly impossible win for its candidate Harsh Mahajan who defeated senior Supreme Court advocate and his Congress opponent Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
In an embarrassment for the ruling Congress and state Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu, the elections to the Upper House of Parliament spelt disaster for the party as he admitted to nine cross-votings by MLAs of which three were Independents. At this stage, the Congress may well be staring at the possibility of losing its government in Himachal Pradesh. The party is in power in two other states — Telangana and Karnataka.
The chief minister alleged that six Congress MLAs had been “abducted’’ by the BJP with security cover of CRPF and Haryana Police, whisking them away to Panchkula in Haryana. Congress has 40 MLAs in the House of 68 and also enjoys support of three Independent MLAs while the BJP has 25 MLAs.
Talking to mediapersons in Shimla late Tuesday evening, CM Sukhu blamed the legislators for selling out their honesty. He said: “Nine cross votings took place, three of them were Independent MLAs, but six others sold their honesty and voted against Abhishek Manu Singhvi.”
Flanked by the chief minister, Abhishek Manu Singhvi extended his congratulations to Harsh Mahajan for the victory but told the BJP to introspect. “I would like to tell his party – introspect and think. When a 25-member party fields a candidate against a 43-member party, there is just one message –we will shamelessly do that which is not permitted by the law,’’ he said after the nail-biting finish.
In the southern state of Karnataka, the ruling Congress won three seats and the BJP one in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting. Those who were elected to the Upper House are Ajay Maken, G C Chandrasekhar and Syed Naseer Hussain, all belonging to the Congress, and Narayansa K Bhandage of the BJP.
Five candidates were in the fray for the four seats in the elections, including JD(S) contestant D Kupendra Reddy. One of the BJP MLAs, S T Somashekar, voted for the Congress candidate Ajay Maken, the other, A Shivaram Hebbar, abstained.
Voting took place for 15 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka on Tuesday. Out of the 56 Rajya Sabha seats contested, 41
members have already secured their positions in the Upper
House without having to face opposition.
Among those elected unopposed are former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda, Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan and Ashok Chavan who recently quit the Congress and joined the BJP in Maharashtra. Rajya Sabha members have a six-year term, with elections held every two years for 33 per cent of the seats. At present, the Upper House has 245 members.
The stage is also set for a high-octane Rajya Sabha electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh where 10 vacancies exist. The BJP has the numbers to win seven unopposed and the Samajwadi Party (SP) can win three.
