After the BJP managed to win three seats in the Maharashtra Rajya Sabha Polls, in a major blow to the MVA, senior party leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said it was a “convincing” victory and attributed it to meticulous planning as well as team work, PTI reported. Speaking to reporters at the Vidhan Bhavan here, Fadnavis also took a dig at Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, who was one of the candidates in the fray, saying that BJP’s Dhananjay Mahadik secured more votes than him.
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Meanwhile, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar said it was because the saffron party had managed to win over some of the Independent candidates that were supporting the ruling alliance. “This has happened largely due to Devendra Fadnavis’s ability to win over people with all the measures at his disposal,” Pawar said.
Voting for 16 vacant seats in Rajya Sabha in four states — Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka and Maharashtra — concluded at 4 pm on Friday. The high-stakes battle turned out to be a nail-biting affair with the Congress and BJP trading charges, even approaching the Election Commission. In Karnataka, BJP candidates Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor-politician Jaggesh and MLC Lehar Singh Siroya won three RS seats for the party, Jairam Ramesh clinched one for Congress while JD(S) drew blank. The Congress hit a home run in Rajasthan, bagging three seats while the BJP won the remaining one. The BJP’s Krishan Lal Panwar and Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma, backed by the saffron party and its ally JJP, have won the two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana, officials said early Saturday.
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A day after Rajya Sabha elections saw ruling BJP winning three seats in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has remarked that no matter whether the Congress or the JD(S) is considered the “B team” of the saffron party, both Opposition parties would now agree that the BJP is the “A team”.
Bommai’s remark on Saturday was a reference to the “BJP’s B team” charge often levelled by the Congress and the JD(S) against each other. “We are not bothered as to who is the ‘B’ team. Though the Congress is expressing confidence of scoring a big victory in the Legislative Council polls, the reality is the BJP has a very good chance to triumph. There is complete unity in the BJP,” he said in Belagavi. Read more
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The Congress party on Saturday expelled its Haryana MLA, Kuldeep Bishnoi, from all his present party positions for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections that concluded on Friday.
According to the Haryana Congress, Bishnoi, an MLA from the Adampur constituency in Hisar, did not vote for Ajay Maken, Congress’s candidate from Haryana, and cross-voted in favour of BJP-JJP-backed Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma, who eventually edged out Maken. Read more
The three-cornered contest for two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana Friday turned out to be a thriller. While the ruling BJP’s official nominee Krishan Panwar romped home, the principal Opposition Congress’s candidate Ajay Maken failed to sail through despite his party’s adequate numbers in a dead heat whose outcome could be determined only in the wee hours of Saturday. The Independent candidate backed by the BJP and its ally JJP, Kartikeya Sharma, media baron, edged out Maken because of the Congress MLAs and party satrap Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s detractors, Kuldeep Bishnoi and Kiran Choudhry. According to Congress sources, while Bishnoi did not vote for Maken, Choudhry “wrongly cast her ballot”. Read more
"We were ahead of Independent candidate in preference 1 result. We objected that 1 vote which was given to independent should be cancelled. But our vote was cancelled & their rejected vote was accepted. We're getting this examined legally," Congress' Ajay Maken on RS poll result.
Speaking about the recent Rajya Sabha Poll result in Maharashtra, NCP Chief Supriya Sule said: "I congratulate BJP on their performance. We accept our defeat. We clearly need to introspect on what went right and what went wrong."
On Friday, BJP MLA from Dholpur, Shobharani Kushwah, sprung a surprise by cross voting in favour of a Congress candidate during the Rajya Sabha polls.
While she faces the risk of being expelled from the BJP, over five years ago, it was her husband whose Assembly membership was terminated and he was jailed, leading to Shobharani’s election.
And now, her cross voting is also being linked to her husband’s imprisonment, while she herself hasn’t offered any explanations yet. A second term MLA, Kushwah is the wife of jailed former MLA B L Kushwah. In December 2016, the then Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Kailash Meghwal had terminated the Assembly membership of B L Kushwah, who was with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) then, after he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for ‘honour’ killing. Read more.
The dramatic twists and turns in the Rajya Sabha polling for two seats in Haryana ended in the early hours of Saturday, with the Election Commission (EC) declaring BJP’s nominee Krishan Panwar and BJP-JJP backed Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma victorious. Congress’s Ajay Maken lost to Sharma.
According to details shared by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, while one Congress vote was rejected, Kuldeep Bishnoi (Congress MLA from Adampur) “voted as per his inner conscience” and “did not vote for Congress nominee Ajay Maken”. Read more.
After the BJP managed to win three seats in the Maharashtra Rajya Sabha Polls, Senior party leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said it was a “convincing” victory and attributed it to meticulous planning as well as team work, PTI reported. Speaking to reporters at the Vidhan Bhavan here, Fadnavis also took a dig at Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, who was one of the candidates in the fray, saying that BJP’s Dhananjay Mahadik secured more votes than him.
After the BJP managed to win three seats in the Maharashtra Rajya Sabha Polls, in a major blow to the MVA, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar said it was because the saffron party had managed to win over some of the Independent candidates that were supporting the ruling alliance. “This has happened largely due to Devendra Fadnavis’s ability to win over people with all the measures at his disposal,” Pawar said.
After Shiv Sena's Sanjay Pawar lost the Rajya Sabha polls from Maharashtra to BJP's Dhananjay Mahadik, party leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday alleged that the BJP put pressure on the Election Commission to get his party's one vote disqualified.
Talking to reporters, Raut, who himself managed to win a seat, said the BJP's victory was not as huge as it was being made out to be, and added that the Sena's second candidate secured more first preference votes.
"I don't think the BJP's candidate has won. The first preference votes of 33 were secured by Pawar," Raut said, adding that BJP's Mahadik bagged 27 votes as first preference. "He won on the basis of the second preference vote," Raut said.
The bitter contest that went to the wire saw three candidates of the BJP - Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Mahadik - winning the polls. The Sena (Raut), NCP (Praful Patel) and Congress (Imran Pratapgarhi) won one seat each. (PTI)
In a major setback for the Uddhav Thackeray led government in Maharashtra, the BJP and ruling MVA alliance won three seats each.
Out of the six seats in Maharashtra, BJP's Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik won one seat each. From the MVA alliance, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, Congress' Imran Pratapgarhi and NCP's Praful Patel won one seat each.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala were among eight candidates elected to Rajya Sabha Friday from Karnataka and Rajasthan, while counting of votes in Maharashtra and Haryana was delayed with rival parties trading charges.
Although the BJP faced an embarrassment in Rajasthan with one of its MLAs switching sides, its gamble in Karnataka paid off as its third candidate won because of cross-voting by a JD(S) MLA and an independent legislator.
The BJP won three of the four seats in Karnataka while the Congress heaved a sigh of relief in party-ruled Rajasthan where all three of its candidates won, overcoming fears of cross-voting and horse trading. The high-stake battle for 16 seats — 6 in Maharashtra, 4 each in Karnataka and Rajasthan and 2 in Haryana — turned out to be a nail-biting affair with the Congress and BJP trading charges, even approaching the Election Commission. Read more.
"This is not my victory. It is a victory for Team Congress. Entire Congress party, PCC chief DK Shivakumar, CLP leader Siddaramaiah, Chief Whips, all MLAs, everybody voted. Not a single invalid vote,it's really a victory for teamwork. It's Team Congress that has won," Jairam Ramesh said.
In the first round of counting Praful Patel, Imran Pratapgadi, Sanjay Raut, Piyush Goyal and Anil Bonde win. The counting for the six Rajya Sabha polls in Maharashtra which was stopped resumed after nine hours.
BJP's Dhananjay Mhadik pulled the victory in second round of counting fulfilling the required quota of 41 votes.
Objecting to the Election Commission's decision to ask the returning officer in Maharashtra to reject vote cast by Shiv Sena legislator Suhas Kande in the Rajya Sabha poll, party spokesperson Manisha Kayande on Saturday sought to know the reason behind the poll body's decision.
“Rajya Sabha Election: What is the reason behind disqualification of Suhas Kande? Who exactly is behind the 8-9 hour delay in counting of votes? Isn't this a mockery of democracy?" Kayande tweeted.
The Election Commission has directed the Rajya Sabha election returning officer of Maharashtra to go ahead with the counting of votes which was held up following complaints by the BJP about violation of rules.
The poll panel also directed the returning officer of Maharashtra to reject the vote cast by Suhas Kande. (PTI)
The BJP's Krishan Lal Panwar and Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma, backed by the saffron party and its ally JJP, have won the two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana, officials said early Saturday, after the counting of votes which was delayed by hours over allegation of violation of rules.
Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken did not get enough votes.
According to a senior Election Commission official here, Panwar got 36 votes, while Sharma got 23 first preference votes and six transferred from the BJP, taking his tally to 29. (PTI)
After the voting in the Rajya Sabha polls, MLAs from across the party lines appeared confident and claimed that their nominee would win.
Congress MLA Neeraj Sharma said, “Congress nominee Ajay Maken shall definitely win. We shall get more votes than required”.
Congress nominee Ajay Maken said, “I shall win, 200 per cent. There is no doubt on that”.
Another Congress MLA Bishan Lal Saini said, “No cross voting took place in Congress. BJP should watch out for its own MLAs. Congress is getting at least 35 votes. If this number turns out to be incorrect, I will get my mustache shaved”.
Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi said, “I have voted as per my inner conscience. I showed my vote to the party observer”.
On the other hand, JJP's Ram Kumar Gautam said, “I have voted for Kartikeya Sharma and there is no doubt that Sharma will definitely win. Congress is not able to get the required numbers”.
Earlier in the day, BJP's senior leaders Anil Vij, Kanwarpal Gujjar and Sandeep Singh had claimed that both – BJP's nominee Krishan Panwar and BJP supporter Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma will win. -- ENS inputs
Till 1.30 pm today, 89 out of 90 MLAs of Haryana cast their votes. The votes can be done till 4 pm. Independent MLA from Meham Balraj Kundu has abstained from voting, but efforts were being made by all the sides to convince him to come back to Vidhan Sabha and cast his vote.
Bhupinder Hooda was the last one to cast his vote.
Dholpur MLA, Shobharani Kushwah, has allegedly cross voted in favour of a Congress MLA, sources said. Following this, BJP agent and MLA Rajendra Rathore demanded that the vote be rejected.
In another incident, BJP MLA from Garhi in Banswara, Kailash Chandra Meena, showed his vote to the party’s polling agent Rathore but apparently ended up showing his vote to Congress state president and polling agent Govind Singh Dotasra erroneously too. Dotsara claimed that he had seen the vote so it should be rejected. Read more
Talking to The Indian Express, Kiran Choudhry said, “there was a disruption created by Digvijay Chautala. These people (EC) had created extremely shoddy and thin cardboard sheets as partitions. I had only shown my vote to our observer. He (Digvijay) was sitting in the next partition and claimed that he saw my vote or I showed it to him. He demanded that my vote needs to be disqualified. But I told the EC that it is ridiculous. What kind of partitions have you made. Unless I sit in the observer’s lap and show him my vote, the person who is sitting in the next cubicle can easily get out of his chair and see the vote. That’s what he (Digvijay) did. He stood out of his chair and started creating ruckus. But I went ahead and polled my vote."
About another MLA, B B Batra, whose vote is under doubt, she said, “I feel that a similar thing was done with B B Batra, too but I am not sure. This is a strategy being played by these people (BJP-JJP) to wrongfully disqualify certain votes and get what they wanted.”
Members of the Rajya Sabha are elected through single transferable votes via an open ballot. Members of a state’s Legislative Assembly vote in the Rajya Sabha elections in what is called proportional representation with the single transferable vote (STV) system. Each MLA’s vote is counted only once.
There have been multiple instances in the past where the votes of MPs and MLAs have been rejected due to violation of rules. We explain when a Rajya Sabha can be rejected.
BJP MLA from Dholpur, Shobharani Kushwah, has allegedly cross voted in favour of a Congress MLA, sources said. After Kushwah voted for the Congress candidate, BJP agent and MLA Rajendra Rathore demanded that the vote be rejected.
Asked about Kushwah, BJP state president Satish Poonia, without taking any names, said that, “The Returning Officer will decide. So far it’s only being discussed. Only once the counting takes place will it be decided.”
Second, BJP MLA from Garhi in Banswara, Kailash Chandra Meena, showed his vote to the polling agent Rathore but apparently ended up showing his vote to Congress state president and polling agent Govind Singh Dotasra erroneously too, who claimed that he had seen the vote so it should be rejected.
In the RS polls, each and every MLAs' vote is crucial and can be the difference between winning and losing. Earlier, during the mock polling by the BJP, votes of as many as five BJP MLAs were rejected.
The polling began Friday with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot casting his vote, followed by minister of state Rajendra Gudha. A total of five candidates are in fray for four RS seats from Rajasthan. -- ENS inputs
In Karnataka, JD(S) leader K Srinivasa Gowda told reporters that he voted for Congress because he "loves it".
Earlier in the day, JD(S)'s H D Kumaraswamy had accused Congress leader Siddaramaiah of stopping his party MLAs from voting for JD(S).
“I can not vote for the BJP’s candidate because these people have looted the State. I will not vote for Kartikeya Sharma because he is a candidate supported by people who are drenched in corruption. But then does it mean that should I vote for Congress candidate. My inner conscience, however, asked me that why couldn’t Congress find even a single suitable candidate from Haryana. Why did they have to get an outsider (Maken) and nominate him from our State. This is an insult to our Haryana. Thus, I have decided that I’ll not cast my vote and shall stay absent. I will not vote for anybody”, Balraj Kundu said outside Vidhan Sabha premises.
INLD's Abhay Chautala said, "I have voted for Kartikeya (Sharma). I have also congratulated him. I wish from my heart that he wins. The manner in which Congress has treated its MLAs clearly show the party doesn’t even trust it’s own MLAs, that’s why all of them were taken to a resort. The kind of game that Congress played last time (2016) when several of its were cancelled; this time there appears to be a bigger game plan working. It’s surprising that Congress doesn’t trust it’s own MLAs and fear that they would indulge in cross voting or succumb to alleged horse trading."
Congress MLAs have arrived at the Vidhan Sabha in Haryana led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Ajay Maken, the party's candidate in the fray. The MLAs had earlier huddled in Hooda's residence ahead.
(Photo by Jasbir Malhi)
Independent MLA Randhir Gollen on Friday stated that Congress candidate Ajay Maken is an outsider, which is why he won't win. "Even Congress MLAs feel that the party’s nominee should have been from Haryana and not an outsider. Things will be absolutely clear by 5 pm," he said.
“Kuldeep Bishnoi will not vote for Congress and another Congress vote has been disqualified," Gollen claimed.
As voting got underway for the four Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan, the ruling Congress on Friday exuded confidence that it has the numbers to win three seats while the opposition BJP said it expects a "miracle" when the results are announced.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the Congress will comfortably win three out of the four seats. Lashing out at the opposition BJP for fielding Subhash Chandra as an independent candidate despite not having majority, he claimed, “Their own MLAs did not like Chandra". The BJP maintained that both its official candidate Ghanshyam Tiwari and independent candidate Chandra will win.
Before leaving for the assembly building for polling, Gehlot told reporters outside Hotel Leela Palace on the Delhi highway, “I am saying again that we are winning three seats comfortably and they (BJP) should take care of their house. The way they fielded another candidate, it was not liked by MLAs of their party.” “There is a reaction in the whole state. Elections were conducted unnecessarily otherwise all four seats -- three by us and one by the BJP -- would have been won comfortably,” he said.
However, BPL MLA Vasudev Devnani said a "miracle" will happen when the results are announced in the evening. “Our claim is still maintained. You will see a miracle happening when the results are announced,” Devnani told reporters in the assembly after casting vote. One candidate needs 41 votes to win. (PTI)
The Bombay High Court 's Justice Prakash D Naik refused to entertain Nawab Malik's plea seeking permission to go to the Vidhan Sabha to cast his vote in the Rajya Sabha elections. He asked Malik to go to the appropriate bench that hears bail applications.
BJP's Anil Vij expressed confidence over winning both the seats in Haryana, while speaking to mediapersons Friday.
CM Manohar Lal Khattar said, "I participated in this festival of democracy, today. I am confident that representatives chosen by us and sent to Rajya Sabha will surely play a vital role in policy making and in nation’s service."
So far, 28/90 MLAs have cast their votes in Haryana, including Manohar Lal Khattar, Dushyant Chautala, Kuldeep Bishnoi, Anil Vij, Ranjit Singh, Ram Kumar Gautam, Sandeep Singh, Gopal Kanda, Gian Chand Gupta, Krishanpal Gujjar, etc.
Haryana Congress MLAs arrived at the residence of Leader of Opposition and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Speaking to reporters, Deepender S Hooda said, "Ajay Maken will win in this Rajya Sabha election. Kuldeep Bishnoi is a Congress MLA, I believe he has voted for Congress."
JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy hit out at Congress leader Siddaramaiah for allegedly writing to his party's MLAs to support the Congerss candidate.
On Siddaramaiah's claims that some JD(S) MLAs are in touch with him, Kumaraswamy said, "Yes, definitely. He is pressurising them not to vote for JD(S)."
"Today, he (Siddaramaiah) told the local media that he didn't write to my MLAs. He had even tweeted the letter from his social media account. Now, he's denying what he said yesterday. This shows his double standards," he was quoted as saying by ANI.
A Bombay High Court bench of Justice Prakash D Naik has begun hearing NCP leader and state minister Nawab Malik's plea challenging the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court order that rejected his plea seeking permission to visit Vidhan Sabha on Friday to vote in Rajya Sabha elections.
Former Home Minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh has approached the Bombay High Court challenging the order, however his plea is not yet listed as it was not mentioned before the court on Thursday.
Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis tested negative for Covid-19 Friday. Last week he was Covid positive and in self quarantine at home, raising concerns that he won't be able to vote today.
In a major relief to the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi alliance in the Rajya Sabha elections Friday, the All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has decided to extend its support to the MVA candidates. AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel said that his party has decided to vote for the MVA to defeat BJP.
"Our political deological differences however will continue with Shiv Sena, which is a partner in MVA," Jaleel said.
The AIMIM has two MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly in the form of Malegaon MLA Mufti Ismail and Dhule MLA Faruq Shah.
With voting underway in Haryana, BJP-JJP and Independent MLAs have started arrived at the Vidhan Sabha.
Express Photos by Jasbir Malhi
BSP-turned-Congress MLAs, who had expressed resentment with the ruling Congress government in Rajasthan, were among those who cast their votes as soon as the voting began for the Rajya Sabha elections for the four seats in the state on Friday morning.
The voting started at 9 am in the assembly building and will continue till 4 pm and counting will start at 5 pm, an official spokesperson said.
The MLAs came to the assembly building with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and cast their votes.
BJP MLAs reached the assembly in two buses while two more buses with Congress and other supporting MLAs will reach after some time. Congress and supporting MLAs were staying in a hotel on Delhi road while BJP MLAs were staying at another hotel on Agra road.
BSP-turned Congress MLAs including Rajendra Gudha, Sandeep Yadav, Wajib Ali also reached the assembly with the CM and exercised their franchise. “I was second to cast vote after the chief minister,” Gudha told reporters. (PTI)
A day before the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections, both the Congress and the BJP kept a watch on their legislators in Rajasthan, Haryana, and Maharashtra that are expected to witness close contests. The legislators of the two parties underwent last-minute “training sessions”, mock tests, and meetings. The Haryana Congress legislators flew from Raipur, where they had been sequestered, to Delhi, while their colleagues in Rajasthan were flown from Udaipur to Jaipur. In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena also held sessions for its legislators while the BJP said two of its ailing MLAs would be airlifted to Mumbai.
Take a look at the poll mathematics and what went down on the last day before the elections here.
Casting his vote in the Rajya Sabha polls Friday, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, while speaking to reporters, said that Congress will win all three seats comfortably.
In Karnataka, the Rajya Sabha polls began at 9 am Friday. Chief Minsiter Basavaraj Bommai cast his vote.
Mobile internet services have been suspended for 12 hours starting 9 pm on Thursday in Jaipur's Amber tehsil where the Congress and other supporting MLAs are staying ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls. The divisional commissioner issued the order to suspend the services stating security threat to the protected people staying and moving in the area.
The MLAs are staying at Hotel Leela in the teshil since evening after being shifted from Udaipur. They will go to the assembly building for the Rajya Sabha elections on Friday morning from this hotel. Taking a dig at the Congress, BJP state president Satish Poonia tweeted the order saying, "Internet shutdown in Amber due to fear of paper leak." (PTI)
Congress MLAs who had reached Delhi from Raipur Thursday evening are on their way from Delhi to Chandigarh by road. Deepender Hooda has organised a bus trip for the MLAs. All Congress MLAs will first go to Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s residence in Chandigarh and then go to the Vidhan Sabha.
Ajay Maken is already at Hooda’s residence. Meanwhile, Kuldeep Bishnoi has already reached Vidhan Sabha and is unlikely to go to Hooda’s place. -- ENS inputs
Within the first 20 minutes, polling was halted at the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. Congress MLA (Rohtak) BB Batra was stopped from casting his vote with allegations being raised that he had already voted and had come for the second time. Election Commission officials watched the video footage to ascertain the claims.
The high-stakes Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana will be held Friday for two seats from the state.
There are three candidates in the fray – BJP’s Krishan Panwar, a former transport minister and five-time MLA; Congress’ Ajay Maken; and Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma, a media baron and son of expelled Congress leader and former Union minister Venod Sharma.
The hectic lobbying and resort politics by both the Congress and the BJP-JJP coalition, amid allegations of horse-trading, will come to an end today as the MLAs start reaching the Vidhan Sabha to cast their votes. Read more
* Venue – Vidhan Sabha
* Time – 9 am to 4 pm
* Counting of votes – 5 pm
The polling for 16 vacant seats in Rajya Sabha in four states is set to begin at 9 am Friday.
Stay tuned as we bring you the latest updates!