Rajya Sabha Deputy Chief Election: NDA Candidate Elected With 125 Votes Despite It Not Having Own Majority

Despite not having the majority of its own in the Upper House, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has managed to get its candidate - Harivansh Narayan Singh of the JD(U) - elected to the post of the deputy chief.

While Singh managed to bag 125 votes, joint Opposition candidate - senior Congress party leader B K Hariprasad - secured 105 seats. The Opposition had decided to pick Hariprasad after the sudden decision of NCP‘s Vandana Chavan, who was earlier touted as the combined opposition candidate, to withdraw.

After his election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised new Rajya Sabha deputy speaker and lauded his contribution to journalism.

Parties which may have voted for the NDA candidate include AIADMK (13 members), TRS (six), YSRCP (two) and INLD (one), reports said.

The election came a day before the monsoon session of Parliament comes to a close. The last time there was an election to the post of Deputy Chairman, nearly 25 years back, Congress‘s Najma Heptullah won against the then combined opposition candidate Renuka Chowdhury of Telugu Desam Party. Ironically, both the candidates have since switched political allegiance. While Heptullah quit the Congress to join the BJP, Chowdhury switched loyalty to the Congress.

Before the election, NDA floor managers in Rajya Sabha appeared to have a sigh of relief. Reports had emerged that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar had managed to secure the support of the BJD by reaching out to its president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. BJD, which has nine members in Rajya Sabha, played a decisive role in determining the outcome.

The total strength of the Rajya Sabha is 244. PDP, with two members, had announced its decision to abstain from voting, effectively reducing the strength of the house to 242. NDA needed at least 122 votes to clinch the post.