Winners And Controversies In Rajya Sabha Polls Till Now

Rajya Sabha polls for 16 seats across four states, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana and Rajasthan are underway.

Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, Congress candidates Randeep Surjewala, Jairam Ramesh and Mukul Wasnik, and Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut are some of the prominent names with a sure shot possibility of winning from their respective seats.

Maharashtra

The election day began with AIMIM Lok Sabha member from Aurangabad, Imtiaz Jaleel, announcing its support for Shiva Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) government to defeat the BJP. AIMIM had put forth conditions in exchange for their support in the elections. The demands included the appointment of a minority member in Maharashtra Public Service Commission(MPSC), steps to increase the income of Maharashtra Wakf Board and reservations for Muslims.

NCP leader, Nawab Malik appealed to the Court to grant him parole so that he could vote in the elections. But the Court rejected his plea.

In Maharashtra, the main contest is for the fourth seat.

Karnataka

Karnataka witnessed high drama between JD(S) and Congress. The contest for four seats was underway, out of which BJP won two seats and Congress laid claim to one comfortably. The tussle between the three parties was for the fourth seat. All the three parties, put their respective candidates in the fray. While JD(S) fielded Kupendra Reddy as its first candidate, Congress fielded Mansoor Ali Khan as its second candidate, making it precarious for JD(S) candidate to win the seat. BJP fielded

JD(S) Chief, HD Kumaraswamy accused the Congress of playing dirty politics and accused the party of helping BJP’s rise in the country. Two of its MLAs cross-voted in favour of the Congress. JD(S) leader K Srinivasa Gowda told media that he voted for Congress because he "loves it".

Haryana

Haryana, too, saw high octane drama. Three contestants were in the fray for two seats including BJP’s former minister Krishan Lal Panwar, Congress’s Ajay Maken, a former Union minister and Media baron Kartikeya Sharma as an Independent. Sharma has the support of BJP-JJP combine, most Independents, as well one MLA each from the Haryana Lokhit Party and the INLD

Independent MLA, Randhir Golan, claimed that all independents have voted in favour of BJP. He also accused two Congress MLAs of cross-voting. He said Kuldeep Bishnoi is upset with Congress for selecting an outsider for Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana. He had voted for BJP. He added that there is one more Congress MLA who had not voted for the party, but he would not reveal his name. The Congress, however, has claimed that Bishnoi has voted for his parent party.

Rajasthan

In Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot was Congress’ polling agent. He was the first to cast his vote. He was followed by 6 MLAs who were elected from BSP’s ticket in 2018, but later joined the Congress in 2019. BSP chief in the state had issued a whip instructing the 6 MLAs to not vote for Congress.

In Rajasthan, the ruling Congress has enough votes to win two seats while BJP can win one seat comfortably. For the fourth seat, BJP and RLP with three seats is supporting independent candidate Subhash Chandra. Congress to win the fourth seat requires 15 votes.

If the Congress wins all four seats, there is high possibility of the party retaining CM Ashok Gehlot as the CM face for elections in 2023.