News Analysis India

Tag: Rajya Sabha elections

  • Cross voting in Rajya Sabha polls: Congress expels its Haryana MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi from all party positions

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A day after losing the Rajya Sabha election in Haryana due to cross-voting, the Congress cracked the whip and expelled its legislator Kuldeep Bishnoi from all party positions.

    The Haryana Congress has alleged that Bishnoi, an MLA from the Adampur constituency in Hisar, did not vote for the party candidate Ajay Maken and cross-voted in favour of Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma, who was supported by the ruling BJP-JJP combine.

    The Congress had 31 MLA and needed as many votes to win the Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana, but one of its legislators cross-voted and another’s vote was cancelled.

    “The Congress president has expelled Kuldeep Bishnoi from all his present party positions, including the post of special invitee of the Congress Working Committee, with immediate effect,” a statement from AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said.

    Bishnoi had not attended any of the party meetings of its legislators and had said that he has voted as per his conscience.

  • Action sought against Congress’ Kuldeep Bishnoi for cross-voting during Rajya Sabha polls: Sources

    Congress nominee Ajay Maken failed to secure Rajya Sabha berth after one of the party's MLAs, Bishnoi, cross-voted, while the vote of an MLA was declared invalid.

  • Maha Vikas Aghadi 4th candidate losses to BJP candidates in high voltage biennial RS elections

    Express News Service

    Big set back to Maha Vikas Aghadi in Rajya Sabha elections. Shiv Sena’s second candidate Sanjay Pawar got defeated by BJP candidate Dhananjay Mahadik in the second preference of vote counting on the early morning of Saturday.

    Union minister Piyush Goel, BJP leader Dr Anil Bhonde and Dhananjay Mahadik won the Rajya Sabha elections while NCP leader Praful Patel, Congress leader Imran Pratapgarhi and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut won the election while Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Pawar lost it again BJP candidate Dhananjay Mahadik.

    In a neck and neck fight, union minister Piyush Goel and Dr Anil Bhonde secured 48 votes while Dhananjay Mahadik got 26 as first preference votes against the winning quota of 41 seats. On the other hand,  NCP leader Praful Patel got 43 votes, Congress leader Imran Pratapgarhi secured 44 votes, Sanjay Raut got 41 votes and Sanjay Pawar got 33 votes. Mahadik and Sanjay Pawar could not compete the required quota in the first round, therefore, the second preference votes were counted and BJP’s additional first preference votes got transferred to him which helped Mahadik to win the elections in the second round.

    BJP was able to get additional 12 votes against its actual numbers. BJP successfully pursued independent MLAs and smaller parties to cast their votes for BJP candidates. Independent was king maker and BJP used them properly.

  • Maharashtra RS polls: BJP wins 3 of 6 seats in major setback to ruling Sena-NCP-Cong alliance

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: In a major setback to Maharashtra’s ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, the BJP on Saturday won three of the six Rajya Sabha seats in the state, even as the ruling combine questioned the eight-hour delay in counting of votes.

    The winners include BJP candidates Union minister Piyush Goyal and former state minister Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik. Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, NCP’s Praful Patel and Congress’ Imran Pratapgarhi also won the fiercely-fought elections.

    The contest was for the sixth seat the BJP had fielded former MP Dhananjay Mahadik and the Shiv Sena candidate was Sanjay Pawar, who lost. Mahadik and Pawar hail from Kolhapur in western Maharashtra.

    The high-stake battle for the sixth turned out to be a nail-biting affair with the Congress and BJP trading charges, even approaching the Election Commission.

    “Elections are contested not just for the fight, but the victory.bJai Maharashtra,” tweeted BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, whose refusal to have a consensus candidates for the Rajya Sabha led to elections in the state after 23 years.

    The counting of votes started after an eight-hour delay amid complaints of cross voting and rules violation by the BJP and the ruling alliance.bBoth BJP and the Shiv Sena approached the Election Commission, alleging cross voting and seeking disqualification of votes.bThe poll panel directed the Rajya Sabha election returning officer of Maharashtra to reject the vote cast by Shiv Sena legislator Suhas Kande, after which the counting of votes got underway.

  • Maharashtra RS polls: BJP bags 3 of 6 seats in major setback to ruling Sena-NCP-Cong alliance

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: In a major setback to Maharashtra’s ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, the BJP on Saturday won three of the six Rajya Sabha seats in the state, even as the ruling combine questioned the eight-hour delay in counting of votes.

    The winners include BJP candidates Union minister Piyush Goyal and former state minister Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik. Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, NCP’s Praful Patel and Congress’ Imran Pratapgarhi also won the fiercely-fought elections.

    The contest was for the sixth seat the BJP had fielded former MP Dhananjay Mahadik and the Shiv Sena candidate was Sanjay Pawar, who lost. Mahadik and Pawar hail from Kolhapur in western Maharashtra.

    The high-stake battle for the sixth turned out to be a nail-biting affair with the Congress and BJP trading charges, even approaching the Election Commission.

    “Elections are contested not just for the fight, but the victory.bJai Maharashtra,” tweeted BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, whose refusal to have a consensus candidates for the Rajya Sabha led to elections in the state after 23 years.

    The counting of votes started after an eight-hour delay amid complaints of cross voting and rules violation by the BJP and the ruling alliance.bBoth BJP and the Shiv Sena approached the Election Commission, alleging cross voting and seeking disqualification of votes.bThe poll panel directed the Rajya Sabha election returning officer of Maharashtra to reject the vote cast by Shiv Sena legislator Suhas Kande, after which the counting of votes got underway.

  • Haryana RS polls: BJP’s Krishan Panwar, Independent candidate win, Congress’ Ajay Maken loses

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH The BJP’s Krishan Lal Panwar and Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma, backed by the saffron party and its ally JJP, have won the two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana, officials said early Saturday, after the counting of votes which was delayed by hours over allegation of violation of rules. Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken did not get enough votes.

    According to a senior Election Commission official here, Panwar got 36 votes, while Sharma got 23 first preference votes and six transferred from the BJP, taking his tally to 29. Congress MLA and the party’s authorised polling agent BB Batra said while the party’s Kuldeep Bishnoi cross-voted, the vote of another party MLA was declared invalid.

    The counting of votes began past midnight Friday after the Election Commission gave the go-ahead. The counting was held up after the BJP and an Independent candidate backed by it had alleged violation of rules and demanded the votes of two Congress MLAs be declared invalid. Election Commission sources in Delhi said the demand was rejected.

    Panwar and Sharma had written to the EC, alleging Congress MLAs Kiran Choudhary and B B Batra showed their ballot papers to unauthorised persons after marking them and that the episodes were recorded by cameras.

    The Congress had also approached the Election Commission accusing the BJP of trying to defeat the process of free and fair election and demanded immediate declaration of results.

    89 of a total of 90 MLAs in Haryana had cast their votes while Independent MLA Balraj Kundu had abstained from voting.

  • Major jolt to Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra’s closely fought Rajya Sabha elections

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: In the crucial and high voltage biennial elections of Rajya Sabha in Maharashtra, Maha Vikas Aghadi got a major jolt of rejections of voting to NCP minister Nawab Malik and former minister Anik Deshmukh by the Bombay High court. The court refused to grant permission to the NCP duo to cast their vote in the Rajya Sabha elections.

    The Bombay High Court said that petition Article 227 is not maintainable and instead asked the NCP duo to file their petition as a bail plea under Section 439 of the CrPC and approach the appropriate bench. Earlier the special court had also denied permission to the NCP duo to cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections.

    Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik, who is in prison in a money laundering case, to amend his petition seeking permission to cast vote in the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled to be held today. The plea before the High Court was filed as a writ petition invoking Article 227 of the Constitution and Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to quash the order of the special judge who had refused relief to Malik.

    NCP duo had moved the High Court seeking a day’s bail to cast the vote. Subsequently, he dropped the plea for bail and instead asked the Court to allow him to cast vote under police escort and return to prison.

    “From the tenor, the petition is for release on bail on bond. The release can only happen with bond under provisions 439, 440 and 441 of CrPC. The petitioner should have moved an appropriate application under 439 and not the present petition. Leave to amend this petition granted,” the Court ordered.

    The 50 per cent of elected representatives have cast their votes in Rajya Sabha elections. On Friday morning, only a few MLAs of Maha Vikas Aghadi cast their vote and waited for a court order for Malik and Anil Deshmukh. The reason they had planned the strategy if the NCP duo are rejected the voting rights or permitted. After rejections, a new strategy has been formed by Maha Vikas Aghadi in the voting pattern. 

  • Mallikarjun Kharge, Bhupesh Baghel appointed observers ahead of Rajya Sabha polls

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Ahead of the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has appointed senior party leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Bhupesh Baghel, as observers.

    While Kharge has been made the observer for Maharashtra, Baghel and Rajeev Shukla have been made observers for Haryana, and Pawan Kumar Bansal and T S Singh Deo for Rajasthan.

    The Congress is seeking to ensure that its candidates win the Rajya Sabha (RS) elections in Haryana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, while the BJP has put its weight behind independent candidates in Haryana and Rajasthan.

    AICC general secretary Ajay Maken is the Congress candidate from Haryana, where two seats have fallen vacant.

    The Congress and the BJP are likely to get one seat each, but the BJP has backed media baron Kartikeya Sharma as an independent.

    Sharma is the son of Venod Sharma and son-in-law of former Haryana Speaker Kuldeep Sharma.

    Both are considered close to former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

    Congress needs 31 votes to win the seat and has as many MLAs.

    The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is banking on cross-voting.

    For the four Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan, the Congress has fielded three candidates — Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari.

    While Congress is sure to get two seats, it needs 15 more votes to win the third seat of Tiwari.

    The BJP has fielded its former minister Ghanshyam Tiwari, and backed media baron Subhash Chandra as an independent for the second seat.

    In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena and the BJP will battle it out for the sixth seat of Rajya Sabha as none of the seven candidates in the fray — four of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and three of the BJP — withdrew their nominations on Friday.

    The Congress has also fielded another candidate Mansoor Ali Khan in Karnataka, where the election will be held on June 10 for four seats.

    Jairam Ramesh is the other Congress candidate.

    The Congress is expecting three seats in Rajasthan and the BJP is expecting one of its own and is supporting an independent and Subhash Chandra for the fourth seat.

    Meanwhile, nearly 70 Congress MLAs from Rajasthan are camping at a hotel in Udaipur ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections to the four seats in which the party fears horse-trading by the opposition BJP, party sources said.

    The Congress, with its 108 MLAs in the state assembly, is set to win two seats.

    After winning the two seats, the party will have 26 surplus votes, 15 short of the required 41 to win the third seat.

    On the other hand, the BJP has 71 MLAs in the state assembly and is set to win one seat after which it will be left with 30 surplus votes.

    The Congress has also shifted its MLAs in Haryana to a resort in Raipur in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh.

    Of the 57 vacancies in Rajya Sabha, 41 candidates in 11 states have so far been elected unopposed.

    The elections will be held for 16 seats in four states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana and Karnataka.

  • Rajasthan: Disgruntled MLAs make Rajya Sabha polls a headache for Gehlot

    Express News Service

    JAIPUR: In Rajasthan, the Rajya Sabha elections are turning into a huge headache for CM Ashok Gehlot and the ruling Congress. Despite herding party MLAs and others supporting the Congress government to a luxury resort in Udaipur, the number of MLAs remains far less than what the Congress needs to ensure victory for all its three candidates. 

    In particular, five out of six ex-BSP MLAs who had joined the Congress in 2019 have laid down a set of demands that they want CM Gehlot to fulfill before voting for Rajya Sabha polls on June 10. The ex-BSP MLAs have even refused to go to Udaipur and are staying together in Sariska as a part of pressure building tactics. Meanwhile, the CM  had to change his program to go to Udaipur today and his team of loyalists are trying to persuade unhappy MLAs not to switch sides.

    Despite the strenuous efforts of the Gehlot camp, the displeasure of some Congress MLAs has also come to the fore ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections. Many MLAs are angry due to the non-fulfillment of promises and pending works. The Congress may claim the support of 126 MLAs but given the anger of MLAs worries in the Congress are increasing. Even after several efforts to persuade them, more than 10 MLAs are just not agreeing. Angry MLAs have kept their demand charter and given the rebellious attitudes of half a dozen MLAs, CM Gehlot is doing his best at damage control and postponed his program to go to Udaipur on Saturday.

    With Assembly elections in the state only one and a half years away, angry MLAs are making their strategy under the leadership of Soldier Welfare Minister Rajendra Singh Gudha. The ex-BSP MLAs have become the ‘G-6’ Group which includes Sandeep Yadav, Lakhan Singh Meena, Wajib Ali, Girraj Singh Malinga and Khiladi Lal Bairwa. Five leaders of this group had gone on a safari in Sariska a day earlier and had refused to go to Udaipur till their long-pending demands are met.

    After Minister Rajendra Gudha and MLA Wajib Ali, now MLA Girraj Singh Malinga and Khiladi Lal Bairwa have openly shown deep displeasure with the government and Congress.  “I have got the reward of saving the government by having to face trial in a case. Why should we go to Udaipur? My reward for saving the government is to be wrongly sued despite my loyalty. Only God will do justice to me now as he judges everyone,” said Malinga.

    MLA Girraj Singh Malinga’s shocking statement has come to the fore after a case was registered and he was jailed for assaulting a government employee.  Girraj Singh Malinga claims that he was made by a leader of Mayawati, not the Congress party.  Malinga said, “Congress has no contribution in making me a leader. BSP and sister Mayawatiji have made me a leader.  We are not people who forget our favours.”

    Similarly, the Chairman of the SC Commission and MLA from Bari, Khiladi Lal Bairwa said, “for a full year after the political crisis on the Gehlot government, no one asked what is your condition?  The problem is that justice has not been done to us, the promises have not been fulfilled, and we are pained by it.”

    Bairwa added, “it would have been nice if even one of the three candidates was from Rajasthan. Some people are unable to speak, but the tension is in everyone’s minds. We are not slaves, we are soldiers of the party.  We should also be respected.  Our freedom cannot be taken for granted like this.”

    Khiladi Lal Bairwa’s comments are particularly surprising as this MLA from Bari is considered to be a supporter of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

    Meanwhile, Ved Prakash Solanki, an MLA from the Sachin Pilot camp, has also not reached Udaipur. Pilot himself has left for Delhi from Udaipur on Saturday.

    At the same time, 6 MLAs including State President Govind Singh Dotasara left for Udaipur this morning. Leaders close to the CM are constantly in touch with the angry MLAs and are trying to do damage control. So far they are nowhere close to the success the party needs.

    According to a senior BJP leader, apart from the BJP MLAs, a dozen other MLAs have been contacted, including independents and MLAs of other parties. Ashok Gehlot’s departure on Saturday was postponed and the Chief Minister may now go on Sunday to Udaipur where he will stay for a few days and handle the crisis management of the Rajya Sabha elections from there. The biggest task at the moment is to convince the disgruntled Congress MLAs. 

    The Congress has fielded three candidates for four Rajya Sabha seats and all three are choices of the party high command and not from Rajasthan. The first two Congress candidates Mukul Wasnik and Randeep Surjewala are sure of winning but Pramod Tiwari’s victory is in doubt as BJP has backed media baron Subhash Chandra as an independent.  This has made the Rajya Sabha polls a tough test for Congress which has to save its 14 votes though Chandra needs to garner only 8 votes beyond those of the BJP for a win. The eyes of both parties are focused on independents and disgruntled MLAs who are being closely monitored by both sides.

  • Rajya Sabha elections: 4 BSP turncoats spell trouble for Rajasthan Congress

    By IANS

    UDAIPUR: As the Rajya Sabha (RS) polls near, the resort politics has started again, and pictures of Congress MLAs living a lavish life in Udaipur-based five-star hotel are going viral.

    This is the same hotel which hosted Congress’ Chintan Shivir, however, Congress concerns seem to be escalating as six Congress MLAs are yet to join the political fencing and have missed their Friday deadline.

    It needs to be mentioned here that the BJP has supported Subhas Chandra as its second candidate for the RS seat which has heightened the worries of the Congress and thus it has taken its MLAs for political fencing to Udaipur.

    The trouble makers in Gehlot’s nest are ex-BSP MLAs who were seen enjoying a safari in Sariska while the Congress MLAs were going camping and their pictures were going viral. In fact, they are openly speaking about their annoyance with the Congress government.

    On Friday Rajendra Gudha, Rajasthan Minister of State for Sainik Kalyan attacked Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, saying that the latter talks a lot but it will be better for him if he sits down and get “anxious” instead.

    He alleged that Congress did not fulfil the promise made to them. Expressing his displeasure, he said, “It is a fact that the respect that should have been given to us was not given. I don’t know what was their compulsion. Gehlot sahib speaks a lot in the media. Ajay Maken promised us but he did not fulfil it.”

    In his statement to media, he said, “Gehlot saheb bolte bahut hain, bolte toh hain he, ke ye kiya, media mein bolte hain. Kabhi baith ke chinta karte toh zyada theek hota (Gehlot sahib talks a lot, he does talk a lot, that he has done this, he says so in the media. But it would have been better had he sat down and get anxious).”

    Another BSP turned Congress MLA Wajib Ali raised questions about the stance of the bureaucracy and the lack of action against complaints sent to the Chief Minister. He has also taunted Gehlot.

    Ali was neither made a minister nor given a political appointment despite coming from BSP to Congress. This is considered the main reason for his “displeasure”.

    Apart from Gudha and Ali, two other BSP-turned-Congress leaders including Lakhan Singh (Karauli MLA) and Sandeep Kumar (Tijara, Alwar) are yet to reach Udaipur. Also missing are Girraj Singh (Bari, Dholpur) and Khiladi Lal Bairwa (Baseri, Dholpur).

    Sources said that Chief Minister Gehlot has taken the charge to bring all MLAs to Udaipur.

    Ali further has left the Chief Minister red-faced by denying his claim. Gehlot a day earlier had told the media that the Central government has issued notice to Congress MLA Ali and is threatening the MLAs during the Rajya Sabha elections. However, Ali refuted Gehlot’s claim. He said that till now he has not received any notice from the Central agencies. Even he gets so (the notice), he is ready for investigation.

    Meanwhile, former deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot has left for Delhi on Friday evening. He reached the airport directly from Taj Aravali Resort in Udaipur.

    Earlier, Pilot with other MLAs including Ramila Khadia (who too was angry with Gehlot), went to Udaipur in a plane. Former state Congress chief said that the party shall win on all three seats. He will return to Udaipur on Monday.