Elections for 25 Rajya Sabha seats took place on Friday. The elections were held in total six states including Uttar Pradesh. The other states where polls were held are West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
On March 15, 33 Rajya Sabha members were elected uncontested. Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javedkar were among those elected.
Of the remaining 25 seats UP had the most numbers at 10. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was also contesting from the state. The BJP registered a massive victory in UP where it won all of the 9 seats it contested for. In an interesting series of events where many assembly members cross-voted, the BSP candidate was defeated and Samajwadi Party won only 1 seat. BSP leader Anil Singh had declared that he voted for BJP
In an election marred by cross-voting, the BJP finally emerged victorious for the ninth seat of Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh for which bitter tussle took place today. Report By: @ShaktiShekharhttps://t.co/lGDleFeOy0
— India Today (@IndiaToday) March 23, 2018
SP leader Jaya Bachchan was the sole non-BJP Rajya Sabha seat winner in Uttar Pradesh.
In Karnataka where 4 seats were up for grabs, BJP MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar won while Congress got 3 seats. Congress L. Hanumanthaiah, Syaed Nasser Hussain and GC Chandrasekhar were the winners.
Congratulations to Shri @rajeev_mp for winning the #RajyaSabhaElections. I’m sure you will continue to serve the people of Karnataka and the nation with the same zeal and enthusiasm. Much deserved!
— B.S. Yeddyurappa (@BSYBJP) March 23, 2018
In Telangana, all three seats were won by TRS candidates. TRS candidates B. Prakash, J. Santhosh Kumar and B L Yadav secured Rajya Sabha seats.
Telangana Rajya Sabha Election results: TRS bags all 3 seats#rajyasabhaelections
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— Times of India (@timesofindia) March 23, 2018
In West Bengal where 5 seats were being contested TMC won 4 while Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi won too.
Congress Abhishek Manu Singhvi wins Rajya Sabha elections from West Bengal, says, ‘it is humbling and uplifting, it is a result of cooperation between different groups and MLAs.’ pic.twitter.com/abs8Ym5NBv
— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018
In Chhattisgarh BJP’s national General Secretary Saroj Pandey won the sole seat. While in Jharkhand BJP’s Sandeep Oraon and Congress’s Dheeraj Sahu won 1 seat each.
The Election results of Friday are a glimpse of a major power shuffle happening in the 245 member Rajya Sabha. Yesterday’s gains took BJP to 69 seats from its previous tally of 58 seats in the house. Though BJP does not have a majority yet, Congress has made significant losses.
14 of Congress’ members are retiring next week and with that, its tally will come down to 50. The BJP suffered a setback when TDP pulled out of the coalition recently but the party has been slowly gaining territory in the Rajya Sabha.
Due to lack of a majority in the RS, many of the NDA governments policy bills have faced hinderances in the past. Though the NDA is still below the majority mark of 126 seats, by expanding its foray into the house the BJP expects faster clearances of its bills. Its winning march in state assembly polls is helping it to steadily increase its presence in the Rajya Sabha.
