Rajya Sabha Election Highlights: Amid cross-voting, BJP wins 8 UP seats, SP gets 2; Congress loses Himachal seat

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Harsh Mahajan defeated Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Himachal Pradesh Rajya Sabha elections. While both candidates got 34 votes each, Mahajan won in the tie-breaker round. Earlier, current CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had claimed that opposition leaders were obstructing the work of counting officials, and that “5-6 Congress MLAs were taken away in a convoy of the CRPF and Haryana Police.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that its candidate Harsh Mahajan won in the lone Himachal Pradesh seat in the Rajya Sabha elections conducted today.

Senior BJP leader and former chief minister Jairam Thakur told reporters, "We are rightly saying that looking at this victory, the Himachal Pradesh CM should resign from his position...The MLAs have left him just within a year."

Addressing the media after all three Congress candidates--  former Union Minister Ajay Maken, and current Rajya Sabha MPs Syed Nasir Hussain and G C Chandrashekar-- won Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka, party senior leader Randeep Surjewala said it was a decisive victory for the Opposition's INDIA bloc.

"This is a decisive defeat of those who want to corrupt the democratic process through the sale and purchase of legislators... This victory of principles, ideals, morality and numbers," he said.

He also said, "Karnataka has spoken clearly that money and muscle power will not work, only democratic power will work."

In May 2023, Congress had defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections.

Addressing the media after all three Congress candidates secured victories in the Rajya Sabha polls, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said, "This shows the unity and integrity of Congress. I thank all the MLAs, party workers and the media. I'm very happy to inform you that all Congress candidates have won. I thank all voters, CM and party workers and the AICC President also. I would like to thank Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge."

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu alleged that leaders of the opposition threatening the counting officials in the state. 

Talking to reporters, Sukhu said, "How the counting for Rajya Sabha election will begin as they (Opposition leaders) have stalled the counting for long time now."

Counting is currently stalled in Himachal Pradesh.

"I want to tell Himachal BJP leaders to keep patience. Don't put people under too much pressure," Sukhu said.

Sukhu further alleged that a convoy of CRPF and Haryana police took away five to six Congress MLAs. 

*And I can say with conviction that legislators who had gone, their families are trying to contact them and they should definitely contact their families. There is nothing to worry," he said.

"In a democracy, there is both ruling government and the opposition, but the kind of hooliganism that the opposition is trying to resort to in Himachal will not be tolerated by the people of Himachal Pradesh," he added.

On being asked, if he will resign, Sukhu said, "Counting will begin soon and we have full majority. Don't worry."

Congress MLA Sudarshan Babloo who represents Chintpurni assembly constituency in Himachal Pradesh was taken to a hospital in Punjab following a sudden health problem.

Alleging violation of election code, leader of the opposition and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur said Congress MLA Sudarshan Singh Babloo was brought in a helicopter for voting and current CM Sukhvinder Sukhu went to receive him and brought him in official car for casting his vote.

Speaking to reporters, Thakur said BJP has urged the Election Commission to look into the matter as it amounted to influencing the election.

He further alleged, "We were stopped from submitting the complaint to the EC... We wanted that counting be stopped until EC looked into the matter.. Even then the counting has not been stopped."

"Not just one vote, but many votes have been influenced," Thakur said.

Leader of Opposition R Ashok says that BJP will file a complaint against S T Somashekar and Shivaram Hebbar for violating party whip. Will also write to BJP high command demanding action against the two legislators, he said

Congress candidates Ajay Maken and Syed Nasir Hussain secure 47 votes each, and G C Chandrashekar got 45 votes.

BJPs Narayansa Bhandage also got 47 votes.

Meanwhile, JD(S) candidate Kupendra Reddy received 36 votes.

Three Congress candidates from Karnataka, along with one from BJP, secured victories in the Rajya Sabha elections that took place on Tuesday (February 27). There were five candidates for the four Rajya Sabha seats from the state. All three of Congress’ candidates– former Union Minister Ajay Maken, and current Rajya Sabha MPs Syed Nasir Hussain and G C Chandrashekar– won, BJP candidate and former MLC Narayansa Bhadage won while Kupendra Reddy, the JD(S) nominee lost. The BJP-JDS alliance suffered a jolt as at least one BJP MLA voted for the Congress.

Voting has concluded in the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, even as fears of cross-voting were observed in the three states. The stage is set for a high-octane RS election battle in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh today. There are 10 Upper House vacancies from UP, four seats are up for grabs in Karnataka and one in Himachal Pradesh.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda, new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on February 20. 

The BJP won the highest number of 20 seats, followed by the Congress (6), Trinamool Congress (4), YSR Congress (3), RJD (2), BJD (2) and NCP, Shiv Sena, BRS and JD(U) one each.

As there were no other candidates in the fray on these 41 seats, the respective returning officers declared them winners on the last date of withdrawal of nominations.

Nadda and three other BJP nominees — Jasvantsinh Parmar, Mayank Nayak and diamond baron Govindbhai Dholakia —were declared winners from Gujarat. The Congress, which has only 15 MLAs, and other opposition parties had preferred not to put up candidates against the BJP, which has 156 legislators in the 182-member Assembly.

From Rajasthan, Sonia Gandhi was elected unopposed, as were BJP’s Chunnilal Garasiya and Madan Rathore.

All the six candidates from Maharashtra — BJP’s Chavan, who joined the party last Tuesday after quitting the Congress, Medha Kulkarni and Ajit Gopchhade; Shiv Sena’s Milind Deora, who also quit the Congress last month, Praful Patel (NCP) and Chandrakant Handore (Cong) — were elected unopposed.

In Bihar, JD(U)’s Sanjay Kumar Jha, BJP’s Dharmshila Gupta and Bhim Singh, RJD’s Manoj Kumar Jha and Sanjay Yadav and Congress’ Akhilesh Prasad Singh won.

From West Bengal, TMC’s Sushmita Dev, Sagarika Ghose, Mamata Thakur and Md Nadimul Haque and Samik Bhattacharya of the BJP were declared winners.

Union minister Murugan, Valmiki Dham Ashram head Umesh Nath Maharaj, Kisan Morcha’s national vice president Banshilal Gurjar and Madhya Pradesh BJP’s women wing president Maya Naroliya bagged four seats for the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, while Ashok Singh of Congress also won unopposed.

From Odisha, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw (BJP) and BJD’s Debashish Samantray and Subhashish Khuntia won.

YSR Congress candidates — G Babu Rao, Y V Subba Reddy and M Raghunath Reddy — won all the three seats in Andhra Pradesh, while in neighbouring Telangana, the ruling Congress bagged two seats — Renuka Chowdhury and Anil Kumar Yadav — and the BRS won one seat — V Ravichandra.

BJP nominees in Uttarakhand (Mahendra Bhatt), Subhash Barala (Haryana), Devendra Pratap Singh (Chhattisgarh) were elected unopposed.

Speaking to reporters after his resignation as chief whip of the Samajwadi Party, senior leader Manoj Kumar Pandey said, "In politics, blame game will always be there... I have been selected by god-like public, and will only think of them."

Pandey on Tuesday resigned from the post of party’s Chief Whip, ahead of the voting for ten Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Reacting to the development, SP chief and former CM Akhilesh Yadav said: "Those looking to profit from situation will leave”.

Amid cross-voting concerns in the elections for ten Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, along with the resignation of Manoj Kumar Pandey as Samajwadi Party’s chief whip, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said, “Those looking to profit from situation will leave”. Before casting his vote, Yadav alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would resort to any means to win elections, adding that action will be taken against “such MLAs”. SP senior leader Pandey on Tuesday resigned from the post of party’s Chief Whip, ahead of the voting. The stage is set for a high-octane RS election battle in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh today. There are 10 Upper House vacancies from UP, four seats are up for grabs in Karnataka and one in Himachal Pradesh.

Ahead of Rajya Sabha elections in four states on June 10, various parties have accommodated legislators from at least three states in resorts, away from potential poaching by rival parties. A practice frequently seen before Rajya Sabha elections, this underlines the importance parties give to seats in the Upper House.

Why are Rajya Sabha elections important?

For both the ruling party and the Opposition, every Rajya Sabha seat counts as any Bill, barring those designated as Money Bills by the Lok Sabha Speaker, needs the assent of the second chamber to become law.

With fears of another BJP MLA and former minister Shivaram Hebbar cross-voting against the party, BJP has pasted a copy of the party whip directing him to vote for coalition candidates at his room at Legislators Home, Vidhana Soudha

Polling for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, which began at 9 am on Tuesday, ended with Congress MLA from Chintpurni Sudershan Babloo casting the last vote.

The polling was brisk and all 68 members have voted. Independent MLA from Hamipur Ashish was the first to cast his vote.

After casting his vote, CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the MLAs have voted as per the ideology of the party. "We have 40 MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha and unless MLAs are bought off, we will get all the votes," he said.

As things stand, the Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi who is facing the BJP’s Harsh Mahajan, a former Congress leader, should sail through comfortably. But a section of the party, including some of CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s detractors, is said to be unhappy with the candidature of Singhvi who is not from the state. BJP has fielded former Congress leader Harsh Mahajan.

"They (BJP) have also fielded candidates to win the elections, but for the 5th candidate they required 45 votes, do they have 45 votes? How will they win without numbers? Though they know that they don't have numbers they fielded Kupendra Reddy and they tried to poach our MLAs, that's why an FIR has been lodged against them," Siddaramaiah said.

"I'm sure all our 3 candidates are going to win," he added.

The Congress with 135 MLAs has the exact number to elect its three candidates, Ajay Maken, Nasir Hussain and G C Chandrashekhar while the BJP has 66 MLAs, which means it can easily get its main candidate, party worker Narayansa Bhandage, elected.

Combined with the 19 JD(S) MLAs, the BJP-JDs second candidate Kupendra Reddy will need to get support of three Independents and get at least three Congress MLAs to cross-vote if he wants to win.

The voting for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant from Uttar Pradesh started around 9 am Tuesday with a series of blows to the Samajwadi Party, including the resignation of its chief whip himself, Manoj Kumar Pandey.

Two other MLAs, whose seats fall in the parliamentary constituencies of Amethi and Raebareli, said they would go with their “antaratma ki awaaz (inner voice)” and that “Lord Ram” was in their “heart”, indicating that their vote might help the BJP pick one extra seat than its numbers indicated, and cause one of the SP’s candidates to lose.

For example, in the forthcoming Rajya Sabha polls in UP, 10 seats are vacant. The state has 399 MLAs at the moment. As per the proportional representation system, each candidate in UP requires at least 37 votes to win.

The BJP has 252 MLAs and its NDA allies account for 34 MLAs – 13 from the Apna Dal, nine from the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), six each from the NISHAD Party and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP). The Jansatta Dal Loktantrik, which has two MLAs, is also expected to vote in favour of the BJP.

If the BJP manages to get all these 36 votes from its allies, in addition to its own votes, its total number of votes will reach 288. However, the BJP has fielded eight candidates, meaning the party will now need 296 votes (37 multiplied by 8). The BJP will fall short hence by eight votes, setting the stage for cross-voting, potentially by SP members, who want to elect 3 MPs of its own. (Vidhatri Rao writes)

Amid fears of cross-voting in the UP Rajya Sabha elections, Samajwadi PArty chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed the BJP saying it will adopt all means to win elections. 

"Not everybody has the guts to stand against the Government...pressure is put on everybody, is there anyone who doesn't know that BJP would go to any extent to win. BJP was dishonest during the Chandigarh elections also... When it comes to UP, BJP did everything to get votes and those who left, might not have had the guts to stand against the govt. Action will be taken because our party leaders want such people to be kept away from the party," he said. 

On rumours of cross-voting in Rajya Sabha elections, Himachal Pradesh minister & Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh said "The party and high command have given us a lot, I cannot speak for everybody else, but as far as I am concerned, my conscience is clear."

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah casts his vote for Rajya Sabha elections at Vidhana Soudha, in Bengaluru.

After Manoj Kumar Pandey resigned as the chief whip of the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday, ahead of the voting for UP Rajya Sabha Elections, SP MLA Zahid Beg expressed confidence that Pandey would not accept “money from anyone.”

"We will win all three seats. The BJP is trying to poach our leaders and they are spending huge money for this. However, I am confident that our leaders won't accept the money... Resigning as chief whip is a different issue. Manoj Kumar Pandey is a senior leader. He is not someone who would accept money from anyone," said Beg. 

?  A total of 112 votes have been polled as of 11 am on Tuesday. 

? The Leader of Opposition and BJP ML R Ashok said that all BJP legislators will cast their votes by noon. "BJP candidate will win. We are also trying to ensure win of JD(S) candidate," he said.

? Meanwhile, Congress leaders say that apart from 134 Congress MLAs, they have the support of three independent legislators. "We will get a few more votes," says ministers such as Ramalinga Reddy and Shivanand Patil. 

? Karnataka minister K N Rajanna claims that two votes from BJP and a few from JD(S) will be cast for Congress candidates. 

? BJP MLA and former minister S T Somashekar said he will cast a 'vote of conscience'. "Will cast first preference vote for the candidate who promises funds for my constituency," he said. Somashekar, who was formerly with Congress, has grown close to Congress leaders in recent days.

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy dismissed claims by Congress leaders that they had lured or threatened Congress legislators. "It is the Congress culture," he said.

"We have fielded a candidate to show the unity of JD(S), as Congress leaders had said that many JD(S) MLAs were ready to shift camp. "This is not about winning. This is to show unity of the party," he said.

? Speaking to reporters ahead of casting his votes, Akhilesh Yadav slammed the BJP saying it will adopt all means to win elections.

? Asked about the absence of some party MLAs from a party meeting on the polls called on Monday, Yadav said, "Those who wanted to profit from the situation will go. Those who were promised will go."

? "Those who put spikes in someone else' path or dig holes for others themselves fall," Yadav said in a swipe at the BJP. (inputs from PTI)

Ahead of the voting for the Karnataka Rajya Sabha elections, state Home Minister G Parameshwara alleged that the Congress suspected cross-vote only because the BJP and JD(S) were trying to reach their MLAs. The Congress had huddled their MLAs in a private resort on Monday. 

'We will win all three seats. There's no chance of a cross-vote. We suspected cross-vote only because the BJP and JD(S) were trying to reach our MLAs and contacted them. We have had a bitter experience before, so that's why we took the precaution of keeping our MLAs together,” he said.

Ahead of voting for the Karnataka Rajya Sabha elections, Congress leader & Karnataka minister Ramalinga Reddy in Bengaluru said, "All our three candidates will by clear majority. There will be no cross-voting. 3 Congress and 1 BJP candidate will be there. We have a clear majority. I don't know what Janardhana Reddy will do, he might support Congress."

The Congress MLAs have arrived at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru to cast their vote in Rajya Sabha elections. Fearing cross-voting, the Congress and the BJP-JD(S) alliance huddled their MLAs in a private resort on Monday. They also conducted a workshop for the new members to inform them about the election process and how to cast their votes.

? Samajwadi Party MLA Manoj Kumar Pandey on Tuesday resigned from the post of party chief whip. 

? This comes a day after he skipped a meeting called by party chief Akhilesh Yadav on the Rajya Sabha elections.

? In a letter to Yadav, the SP leader said, "You had appointed me as chief whip of Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh Assembly. I am resigning as the chief whip. Kindly accept my resignation."

? Pandey is an MLA from Unchahar constituency in Raebareli. He was a cabinet minister in the previous Akhilesh Yadav government.

? As many as eight SP MLAs did not attend a meeting called by the Yadav on Monday.

On Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said, 'If all MLAs of Samajwadi Party are united, its 3 candidates can win the elections. The 2 Congress MLAs are also going to vote for Samajwadi Party due to the INDIA alliance."

On Rajya Sabha elections, Karnataka Deputy Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Arvind Bellad says "We are confident of our votes, they (Congress) are doubtful of their votes and that is why they have kept their leaders in a resort..."

Fearing cross-voting, the Congress and the BJP-JD(S) alliance huddled their MLAs in a private resort on Monday. They also conducted a workshop for the new members to inform them about the election process and how to cast their votes.

So far, out of a total of 68 legislators, 64 have cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections, says news agency ANI. 

Samajwadi Party MLA and leader Manoj Kumar Pandey has resigned from the post of Samajwadi Party Chief Whip, ahead of the voting for UP Rajya Sabha elections

Ahead of the voting for Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief OP Rajbhar said, "The 8 candidates from the BJP are going to win. Raja Bhaiya and all our allies are in support of BJP. Samajwadi Party leaders are openly agreeing to vote for BJP. There will be cross-voting from the Samajwadi Party. They will support NDA, 100% there will be cross-voting."

The BJP has 252 MLAs and its NDA allies account for 34 MLAs — 13 from the Apna Dal (S), nine from the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), six each from the NISHAD Party and the Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP). Strongman Raghuraj Pratap Singh, popularly known as “Raja Bhaiya”, who leads the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik — and is one of the two MLAs of the party — is backing the BJP.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath have cast their votes for the Rajya Sabha elections, at the polling station in Lucknow. 

Ahead of Karnataka Rajya Sabha polls, NDA candidate Kupendra Reddy said, "Most probably cross voting will happen...If we threatened someone or asked for votes, they (Congress) should have complained to the Election Commission. We did not ask for votes from anybody. They (Congress) used the government machinery to register a complaint."

Ahead of polling for one Rajya Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP on Monday accused the ruling Congress of issuing whip to its members to pressurise them and maintained that the MLAs have been elected democratically and have the right to vote as per their wish.

Addressing the media in Shimla on Monday, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said the Congress has issued a whip asking its MLAs to vote for party candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Thakur said the Election Commission of India had made it clear that whip can't be issued for the election and added the Congress has by issuing the whip shown its intention to pressurise the party legislators.

According to him, the Congress has told its legislators that showing the ballot paper to the authorised agent of the party is mandatory and if any member has indulged in cross-voting, the vote will be rendered invalid.

A candidate needs 35 votes in the 68-member Himachal Assembly to be elected to the Upper House of Parliament. The Congress has 40 MLAs and is also counting on the support of Independent MLAs Ashish Sharma, K L Thakur, and Hoshyar Singh. The BJP has 25 MLAs in the House.

As things stand, the Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi who is facing the BJP’s Harsh Mahajan, a former Congress leader, should sail through comfortably. But a section of the party, including some of CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s detractors, is said to be unhappy with the candidature of Singhvi who is not from the state.

To win, each candidate requires 45 first-preference votes in the 224-MLA Assembly. The Congress has 134 MLAs at present — Shorapur MLA Raja Venkatappa Naik died of a heart attack on Sunday — and has claimed the support of Independent legislators Latha Mallikarjun and K Puttaswamy Gowda, and Darshan Puttannaiah of the Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha. Apart from them, Janardhan Reddy of the Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha, who met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar on Monday, is also likely to back the Congress, according to sources in the party.

The BJP with 66 MLAs is in a position to get Bhandage, its main candidate, elected. Even with the BJP’s spare votes and its 19 MLAs, the JD(S) will need five more votes to send Kupendra Reddy to the Rajya Sabha.

The UP Assembly has 403 MLAs but the voting strength on Tuesday will be 399 as four seats are vacant. So, each candidate requires 37 first-preference votes. The BJP has 252 MLAs and its NDA allies account for 34 MLAs — 13 from the Apna Dal (S), nine from the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), six each from the NISHAD Party and the Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP). Strongman Raghuraj Pratap Singh, popularly known as “Raja Bhaiya”, who leads the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik — and is one of the two MLAs of the party — is backing the BJP.

If the BJP manages to get all of these 36 votes, it will have 288 in its bag but will fall short by eight votes to get its eighth candidate elected. The SP has 108 MLAs and its ally Congress has two legislators. The party needs 111 votes to get its three candidates elected but, compounding its problem, ally and Apna Dal (K) leader Pallavi Patel, who won in 2022 on the SP symbol, has said she won’t vote for either Jaya Bachchan or Alok Ranjan.

The number of votes a candidate requires depends on the number of vacancies and the strength of the House. If there is only one vacancy, the required quota under the Election Commission’s Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, is calculated by taking the number of votes polled, divided it by 2, and adding 1. For example, if 100 votes are polled in an Assembly, the Rajya Sabha candidate would need:

100/2 1 = 51 votes

If there is more than one vacancy, the equation is based on an assigned value of 100 for every first-preference vote. The values of the votes credited to all candidates are totalled. The total is divided by 1 more than the number of vacancies, and 1 is added to this quotient.

For example, if 100 members of an Assembly vote for 3 Rajya Sabha vacancies, the required quota by any candidate would be

(100 × 100)/(3 1) 1 = 2501

If for any seat, candidates fail to get the specified number, the second-preference votes will be taken into account, but with a lower value.

Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by MLAs through an indirect election. Article 80(4) provides that members shall be elected by the elected members of state Assemblies through a system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

The Fourth Schedule to the Constitution provides for allocation of Rajya Sabha seats to the states and Union Territories, on the basis of the population of each state. For instance, there are 31 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and 1 in Goa. Elections are held if there are more candidates than vacancies; otherwise, candidates are elected unopposed.

Congress candidate: Abhishek Manu Singhvi

BJP candidate: Harsh Mahajan

There are four Rajya Sabha seats from the southern state and five candidates.

Those in the fray are former Union Minister Ajay Maken, and current Rajya Sabha MPs Syed Nasir Hussain and G C Chandrashekar of the Congress.

Then there is former MLC Narayansa Bhandage of the BJP; and Kupendra Reddy of JD(S). 

In UP, there are 10 seats and 11 candidates.

The BJP has fielded former Union Minister R P N Singh, party general secretary Amarpal Maurya, former minister Sangeeta Balwant, spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former MLA Sadhna Singh, former Agra mayor Naveen Jain, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, and Seth.

The SP, meanwhile, has fielded actor-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan, former state chief secretary Alok Ranjan, and Dalit leader Ramji Lal Suman.