CNBC, June 20, 2020
The ruling Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) gained a significant advantage in the Rajya Sabha results 2020 on Friday, with key constituent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning eight of the 19 seats across eight states that went to polls yesterday. The BJP had won three seats unopposed earlier. Among major winners on Friday included Jyotiraditya Scindia from the BJP, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren.
The BJP-led NDA had 90 members in the Rajya Sabha and with the latest additions, the alliance now has 101 MPs in the 245-member Council of States where the majority mark is 123. This is the first time that the NDA has crossed 100 MPs in the upper house with BJP alone having 86 of them. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) now has 65 seats.
Elections to 24 seats in 10 states were earlier scheduled for March 26, but had to be deferred amid India-wide lockdown to tackle the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
Earlier, former PM HD Devegowda and 3 other candidates in Karnataka as well as one candidate in Arunachal Pradesh were elected unopposed.
Here’s a round-up of the Rajya Sabha election results 2020 on Friday:
- Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha poll results: Two ‘royals’ in MP gain entry after defeat in Lok Sabha polls
Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh and his once arch rival and BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, both belonging to two erstwhile royal families in Madhya Pradesh, have made their way to the Rajya Sabha after tasting defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh is a descendant of the royal family of Raghogarh, while Scindia, who was once among Rahul Gandhi’s closest of aides, is a scion of the erstwhile princely state of Gwalior.
Singh and Scindia are known as ‘Raja’ and ‘Maharaja’, respectively, for their royal lineage. Singh, who had contested the last Lok Sabha polls from Bhopal, had lost to BJP candidate Pragya Singh Thakur, while Scindia had unsuccessfully contested the polls to the Lower House of the Parliament from Guna constituency, considered the pocket borough of his family.
The entry into the Rajya Sabha of these two influential leaders from the state comes three months after the collapse of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government.
- Manipur Rajya Sabha election results 2020: BJP clinches lone seat amid high-voltage political drama
BJP candidate Leisemba Sanajaoba won the election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Manipur on Friday, defeating the Congress nominee in a high-voltage political drama amid the changing electoral equations in the state. Sanajaoba, the titular king of Manipur, received 28 votes, according to Returning Officer M Ramani Devi. Congress candidate T Mangi Babu got 24 votes, she said. The win will be a major boost to the ruling BJP-led coalition in the state which was on a sticky wicket after the rebellion of nine MLAs, including Deputy Chief Minister Y Joykumar.
Of the nine, BJP MLAs BJP MLAs S Subhashchandra Singh, TT Haokip and Samuel Jendai who resigned from the primary membership of the party and the assembly could not cast their votes. Four National People’s Party (NPP) ministers, who had withdrawn their support from the ruling coalition, have exercised their franchise. Apart from Joykumar, the other three are Tribal and Hills Area Development Minister N Kayishii, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Letpao Haokip, and Health and Family Welfare Minister L Jayanta Kumar Singh.
Lone Trinamool Congress MLA T Robindro Singh, who also pulled out of the N Biren Singh-led dispensation, was also not allowed to cast his vote. He lodged a complaint to the Election Commission in this regard. In his complaint, Singh said he was disqualified by the Speaker under the 10th schedule on Thursday “without following the due process”. He claimed he was not given any notice to put forward his defense.
Three Congress defectors—Ksh Biren Singh, S Bira Singh, Surchandra Singh—were not allowed to cast their votes as cases are pending against them.
However, the other four defectors could vote. One recently disqualified MLA was also barred from taking part in the voting process. Manipur has 60 assembly seats.
- Gujarat Rajya Sabha poll results 2020: BJP wins 3 seats, Congress bags one
Three BJP candidates along with Congress’s Shaktisinh Gohil were declared winners of the election to four Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat, held on Friday.
The counting was delayed due to objections raised by the Congress which demanded that votes cast by two BJP MLAs be invalidated.
The Election Commission of India rejected the demand, upholding the report given by the election observer.
“Abhay Bharadwaj, Ramilaben Bara and Narhari Amin of the BJP have won besides Shaktisinh Gohil of the Congress,” said Additional Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat Ashok Manek.
Former Union minister Bharatsinh Solanki, a second candidate fielded by the Congress, lost. The situation would have been different for the Congress if eight of its MLAs had not resigned after the announcement of the Rajya Sabha polls.
“Our candidates Abhay Bharadwaj and Ramilaben Bara got 36 votes each and third candidate Amin got 32 votes in first preference and after addition of second preference votes his total came to 35.98 votes,” said deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel.
“Gohil of Congress got 36 votes and Solanki got 30 votes plus some 1.99 second preference votes which added up to 31.9. So Solanki lost,” Patel said. No votes were invalidated by the Election Commission, the BJP leader added.
- Andhra Pradesh Rajya Sabha election results 2020: YSR Congress clean sweep; wins all 4 seats at stake
The ruling YSR Congress bagged all the four Rajya Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh in the biennial election held on Friday. With this, YSRC’s strength in the Upper House will now go up to six from two. Legislature Secretary and Returning Officer P Balakrishnamacharyulu declared the result after the counting process and said the four victorious YSRC candidates polled 38 votes each. The opposition Telugu Desam Party candidate secured only 17 votes, he said.
Deputy Chief Minister Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, Minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana, industrialist Parimal Nathwani and realtor Ayodhya Rami Reddy of the YSRC were elected to the Upper House.
- Mizoram Rajya Sabha election results 2020: Ruling Mizo National Front candidate wins
The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) won the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Mizoram which saw voting on Friday. K Vanlalvena secured 27 votes out of the 39 polled to defeat his arch-rival B. Lalchhanzova of main opposition Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) who got only the seven votes of his party MLAs, returning officer for the Rajya Sabha polls H Lalrinawma said.
Congress nominee Lallianchunga could manage only five votes. Lalrinawma, who is also state assembly commissioner and secretary, said BJP legislator Buddha Dhan Chakma did not cast his vote. Notwithstanding Chakma not turning up, Chief Minister Zorangthanga said that MNF is an NDA ally and Vanlalvena will sit in the ruling coalition bench in the upper house.
The seat was with the Congress whose member Ronald Sapa Tlau’s term will expire on July 18.
- W R Kharlukhi wins Rajya Sabha seat in Meghalaya
Ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) candidate Wanwei Roy Kharlukhi won the Rajya Sabha seat in the state on Friday, an Election Commission official said. The election was held during the day and Kharlukhi, who is the state president of the National People’s Party, defeated Congress’ Kennedy Cornelius Khyriem by a margin of 20 votes, they said.
“MDA candidate W R Kharlukhi secured 39 votes while his opponent Kenndy Khyriem secured 19 votes. One vote was declared invalid and one abstained from voting,” the official said.
In the house of 60, the MDA has the support of 41 MLAs and Congress has 19 MLAs.
However, MDA-partner KHNAM legislator Adelbert Nongrum abstained from voting to express his dissent against the NPP whose Lok Sabha MP Agatha K Sangma had voted in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in Parliament whereas the party in the state opposed it.
- Rajya Sabha polls in Jharkhand: JMM’s Shibu Soren, BJP’s Deepak Prakash win
JMM supremo Shibu Soren and BJP state unit president Deepak Prakash on Friday won the two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand, an Election Commission official said. Prakash secured 31 votes, while Soren, a former chief minister, won 30. Congress candidate Shahzada Anwar finished third by bagging 18 votes, the official said.
This will be Soren’s third term as a Rajya Sabha member. Soren, whose Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) now governs Jharkhand, had also served as a Union minister. It will be Prakash’s maiden term in the Upper House of Parliament. Polling in the two seats was held during the day as the tenure of Independent member Parimal Nathwani and RJD’s Prem Chand Gupta ended in April.
- Congress wins 2 Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan, BJP 1
The ruling Congress in Rajasthan won two Rajya Sabha seats, while the opposition BJP got one in elections held in the state on Friday. KC Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi of the Congress were declared winner, while Rajendra Gehlot of the BJP also got elected, an assembly spokesperson said. The BJP had fielded a second candidate as well, Onkar Singh Lakhawat, but he lost. With this, the number of Congress party’s Rajya Sabha MPs from Rajasthan has increased to three, out of a total of 10. The rest seven are BJP members.
This news can also be viewed at: https://www.cnbctv18.com/