Nirmala Sitharaman, Jairam Ramesh elected from Karnataka; Counting halted in Maharashtra, Haryana
Nirmala Sitharaman, Jairam Ramesh elected from Karnataka; Counting halted in Maharashtra, Haryana
The Congress has won three Rajya Sabha seats and the BJP one seat in Rajasthan on Friday. Congress candidates Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari have been declared elected, while BJP’s Ghanshyam Tiwari has won the fourth seat. BJP-backed Independent candidate Subhash Chandra lost.
Meanwhile, the BJP suspended its MLA Shobharani Kushwaha for cross-voting in favor of Mr. Tiwari in the Rajya Sabha elections. Leader of the Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria issued an order stating that Ms. Kushwaha voted for Mr. Tiwari despite the whip and that he was being suspended from the primary membership of the BJP. In the letter, Kataria also asked the MLA to explain why he voted against the whip. BJP state president Satish Poonia said that the party high command has been apprised of the matter.
Nirmala Sitharaman, Jairam Ramesh elected from Karnataka
Election officials said the ruling BJP in Karnataka has won three out of four seats and the Congress has won the rest. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor-politician Jaggesh, former BJP MLC Lahar Singh Siroya and former Congress Union minister Jairam Ramesh have been declared elected.
Counting halted in Karnataka, Haryana
In Maharashtra and Haryana, the counting of votes has been stopped due to the objections of BJP and other parties.
Counting of votes in Maharashtra was delayed on Friday evening after the BJP objected to the votes cast by three MLAs of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alleging violation of rules. The MVA has also approached the Election Commission demanding that two BJP votes be declared invalid. The MVA has objected to the vote of BJP MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar and BJP’s independent Ravi Rana.
An official of the state legislature said that the counting of votes has been stopped.
“Cabinet ministers Jitendra Awhad (NCP), Yashomati Thakur (Congress) and Shiv Sena MLA Suhas Kande violated the model code of conduct for voting. We have filed an appeal before the Election Commission of India, demanding that their votes be invalidated,” said a BJP leader from the state.
The BJP alleged that Mr. Awadh and Mrs. Thakur handed over their ballot papers to their party agents instead of merely showing them, while Mr. Kande showed his vote to two different agents.
“Counting of votes requires permission from the Election Commission. Officials have sent an email to the Election Commission for permission. It should be given in some time,” said Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde.
A constitutional expert said, “Counting of votes cannot be started until the Election Commission gives its verdict because till the number of valid votes is not decided, the winning quota cannot be fixed.”
In Maharashtra, seven candidates are in the fray for six seats, the first in more than two decades to contest the Rajya Sabha elections.
The state’s ruling Shiv Sena and the opposition BJP are in a tough fight for the sixth seat. The fight is mainly between Dhananjay Mahadik of BJP and Sanjay Pawar of Shiv Sena.
The ruling MVAs – Shiv Sena, NCP, Congress – had kept their MLAs in various hotels and resorts in Mumbai till they left for the state assembly just before the commencement of voting.
The assembly is the electoral college for biennial elections.
Counting of votes has also been stopped in Haryana for the same reasons.
BJP and its supporting independent candidates have demanded the Election Commission to cancel the votes of two Congress MLAs.
BJP candidate Krishan Lal Panwar and Independent candidate Karthikeya Sharma sent a message to the Election Commission, alleging that Congress MLAs Kiran Choudhary and Bibi Batra marked their ballots after unauthorized persons showed up and the episode was “duly documented” on cameras. imprisoned”.
Sources said in Chandigarh that in view of the complaint made to the Election Commission, the counting of votes has been stopped, further action will depend on the directions given by the Election Commission.
As party leaders eagerly watched, legislators from four states lined up to vote among 16 MPs for the Rajya Sabha on Friday, some of whom were taken from resorts fearing poaching by rivals. was separated.
The high-stakes race for the Upper House acquired urgency with the number of candidates exceeding the number of seats going to the polls in Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Voting started at 9 am and went on till 4 pm
election Commission Special observers have been appointed and videography of the entire exercise has been ordered.
Recently elections were announced for 57 Rajya Sabha seats. Last Friday, all 41 candidates were declared elected unopposed in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Telangana, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.
This left 16 seats in the four states that required elections – six in Maharashtra, four each in Karnataka and Rajasthan, and two in Haryana.
Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, Congress candidates Randeep Surjewala, Jairam Ramesh and Mukul Wasnik and Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut are in the fray. Everyone is expected to win without hesitation.
In Maharashtra, the total votes fell from 288 to 285 – a vacancy due to the death of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke and courts rejected petitions by minister Nawab Malik and former minister Anil Deshmukh seeking one-day bail. Vote. There is also suspense about the fourth seat in Karnataka, in which three parties are BJP, Congress and JD-S.
Despite not having the numbers to win the fourth seat, all three put up candidates for the seat, forcing an election.
The six candidates in the fray are Ms Sitharaman, actor-politician Jaggesh and outgoing BJP MLC Lahar Singh Siroya, former Union minister Jairam Ramesh and Congress state general secretary Mansoor Ali Khan and former JD MP D Kupendra Reddy. (s).
The fight for the fourth seat will be a direct contest between Mr Siroya, Mr Khan and Mr Reddy.
Since these elections have an open ballot system, each legislator (voter) has to show his ballot paper to his designated party agents. Concerned over cross-voting, the JD(S) shifted its MLAs to a hotel on Thursday night. Its Kolar MLA K Srinivasa Gowda has already announced that he will vote for the Congress candidate.