NDA candidate and JD(U) MP Harivansh Narayan Singh has been elected as the new deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha. According to reports, Singh got 125 votes in his support to pass the halfway mark of 119 votes required for a win.
NDA Candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh elected as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman with 125 votes, UPA’s BK Hariprasad got 105 votes. #RajyaSabhaDeputyChairman https://t.co/03Id4IyVDH
— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2018
The opposition’s candidate and 3 times Congress MP BK Hariprasad reportedly got 105 votes. The elections witnessed speculations of numbers in favour of NDA and the opposition. It is being opined that the decision of Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik to vote in favour of NDA candidate has been crucial in the victory. JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar had called the Odisha CM on Tuesday and asked for his support.
The BJD has stated that his party’s 9 MPs would support the NDA candidate as the opposition’s candidate BK Hariprasad has been Odisha in-charge of Congress and he had been vitriolic in his attack against the BJD government in the state.
The post of Deputy Chairman was vacant since July 1 after former Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien retired. While the NDA has got the support of its alliance partners, Congress has not been able to gather the required number of votes. As per reports, some DMK MPs abstained from voting while the Aam Aadmi Party had declared that it will boycott the elections as Congress President Rahul Gandhi did not saw it fit to call them.
