Rajya Sabha polls: Opp MLAs cross-vote in Bihar, Odisha; BJP secures 2 extra seats

In Haryana, the counting of votes for two seats was put on hold for over five hours after both the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress lodged complaints alleging violation of vote secrecy. The counting restarted late Monday night, with both parties all set to secure one seat each, but the results were not officially announced at the time of going to press.

The elections to fill 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states, which were getting vacant in April, were announced by the Election Commission last month.

Barring Haryana, Bihar and Odisha, there was no contest on 26 seats from seven states as the candidates were elected unopposed, including NCP’s Sharad Pawar, Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale and DMK’s Tiruchi Siva.

The results in Bihar were particularly embarrassing for the Mahagathbandhan. Six candidates were in the fray for five seats: five from the NDA and one from the Opposition alliance. The NDA fielded Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, JD(U) MP and Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur, RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha and BJP’s Shivesh Ram.

The arithmetic was straightforward: a candidate required the support of at least 41 MLAs to win a Rajya Sabha seat.

The NDA has 202 MLAs in the 243-member Assembly, leaving it three votes short of securing the fifth seat. The Mahagathbandhan has 35 MLAs — RJD (25), Congress (6), Left parties (3) and Indian Inclusive Party (1) — meaning its candidate, A D Singh, was short of six votes.

But the Opposition candidate was still expected to win after the AIMIM (5) and BSP (1) extended support, which would take the tally to 41. In an anti-climax, however, four Opposition MLAs — three from the Congress and one from the RJD — did not turn up to vote.

All the NDA MLAs cast their votes, and the four NDA nominees secured over 41 votes each to claim their seats. With Shivesh Ram securing 30 first-preference votes and A D Singh 37 for the fifth seat, the second-preference votes came into play. These votes are counted when no candidate secures the required number of votes — at least 41, in this case — in the first round. The BJP candidate subsequently won by a convincing margin.

Soon after the results were announced, Mahagathbandhan leaders accused the ruling NDA of “influencing and threatening” the four Opposition MLAs. BJP state president Sanjay Saraogi dismissed the charge, saying the Opposition did not have the numbers to win. “We swept the polls as we had numbers,” he said. “Four MLAs betrayed us. Strict action will be taken against them,” RJD chief spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said.

From a broader political perspective, these elections were significant as Nitish Kumar’s entry into the Rajya Sabha signalled the end of the tenure of Bihar’s longest-serving Chief Minister. The polls also saw the national presidents of three parties — Nitish (JDU), Nabin (BJP) and Kushwaha (RLM) — entering the Upper House.

The three Congress MLAs who abstained were Forbesganj MLA Manoj Vishwas, Valmiki Nagar MLA Surendra Kushwaha and Manihari MLA Mamohar Prasad. The RJD MLA who did not turn up was Dhaka MLA Faisal Rahman. According to party sources, they remained out of reach of party managers throughout the day and had their mobile phones switched off.

While the Congress had been apprehensive about whether all its six MLAs would vote for the Opposition candidate, the RJD was taken by surprise by Rahman’s absence.

The elections in Odisha were marked by cross-voting by Opposition MLAs.

Five candidates contested the four vacant seats. The BJP fielded its state unit chief Manmohan Samal and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar. Former Union minister and hotelier Dilip Ray entered the fray as an Independent with BJP support. The BJD nominated party leader Santrupt Misra and eminent urologist Dr Datteswar Hota, with the Congress and the CPI(M) backing the doctor.

Here, a candidate required 30 votes to win a seat. In the 147-member State Assembly, the BJP has 79 MLAs and the support of three Independents, leaving it with 22 surplus votes after ensuring the victory of its two candidates. This meant Ray, the BJP-backed Independent, required another eight votes to reach the winning mark of 30.

The BJD has 48 MLAs following the suspension of two of its legislators on January 15. The Congress has 14 MLAs and the CPI(M) one. After ensuring the victory of its candidate, the BJD had 18 surplus votes. In this scenario, Dr Hota was expected to win with the support of 18 BJD MLAs, 14 Congress MLAs and one CPI(M) member — three more than the required number.

However, reports indicated that eight MLAs from BJD and three from Congress voted in favour of Ray, paving the way for his surprise victory. BJP’s Samal and Kumar secured 35 first-preference votes each while BJD’s Misra got 31 first-preference votes. And, although Ray and Hota bagged 23 first-preference votes each, Ray was declared winner based on second-preference votes.

BJD MLA Pratap Deb, who was the party’s polling agent, said six party MLAs — Souvic Biswal, Debi Ranjan Trripathy, Subasini Jena, Chakradhar Kanhar, Naba Kishor Mallick and Ramakanta Bhoi — cross-voted. Two suspended BJD MLAs — Arabinda Mohapatra and Sanatan Mahakud — also voted in favour of Ray.

Three Congress MLAs — Sofia Firdous, Dasarathi Gomango and Ramesh Jena — defied the party’s decision to support the common candidate and voted in favour of Ray.

“Since the past few days, I have spoken about horse-trading by the BJP and their allies. They collected a number of people who voted for them… most of them have a criminal past… BJD will continue to fight for democratic rights and economic development,” said BJD chief Naveen Patnaik.

The outcome is seen as a blow to Patnaik, who had led the BJD’s strategy to keep the legislature party united. Besides holding meetings with party MLAs over the past three days, Patnaik also arranged accommodation for BJD legislators the previous night at his residence Naveen Niwas in a show of unity. According to BJD sources, the party will now initiate disciplinary action against those who defied its decision to vote for the “common candidate”.

In Haryana, the counting of votes was delayed after complaints were lodged by both parties. Acting on BJP’s objection, the vote of Congress MLA Paramvir Singh was declared invalid. However, despite another BJP challenge, the vote of Congress legislator Bharat Singh Beniwal was upheld. Similarly, a Congress complaint against BJP leader Anil Vij did not succeed.

(With Sukhbir Siwach/ Chandigarh)