Rajya Sabha Elections 2024: Congress wins three seats in Karnataka after cross-voting, BJP bags one
Rajya Sabha Election 2024: Karnataka result
Rajya Sabha Elections 2024: The ruling Congress party in the southern state ofKarnataka won three seats in the upper house ofthe Indian parliament (Rajya Sabha), while theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged one.
BJP also faced a setbackahead of the upcoming general elections afterBJP MLA ST Somashekar, on Tuesday (Feb 27) cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha (upper house of the Indian parliament) elections in favour of the ruling Congress.
BJP chief whip Doddanagouda G. Patil announced the cross-vote as counting is expected to be underway in the Rajya Sabha elections where 15 seats across three states were up for grabs.
BJP MLA cross-votes inKarnataka
The voting began at 9:00 am (local time) to fill four seats from the southern state of Karnataka in the upper house of the Indian parliament.
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The BJP chief whip said that the party will take action against the MLA who cross-voted. “It is confirmed that (Karnataka MLA) ST Somashekar has cross-voted. We are discussing what can be done and what action to be taken,” said Patil.
Notably, Somashekar before casting his vote said “I will vote in favour of those who assure me and give confidence that they will give funds for the water and other management in my constituency.”
Meanwhile, anotherMLA, Arbail Shivaram Hebbar, chose to abstain from voting. Both MLAs have recently expresseddissatisfaction with the BJP.
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According to reports, the ruling Congress party shifted its MLAs to a private hotel on Monday (Feb 26) in a bid to prevent undue influence.
Five candidates werecontesting for the four seats – Ajay Maken (Congress), Syed Naseer Hussain (Congress), G C Chandrasekhar (Congress), Narayansa Bhandage (BJP), and Kupendra Reddy from (JD(S)).
Congress, with its majority in the state assembly, was able tosecure three seats, while BJP, asexpectedbaggedone seat.Each Rajya Sabha candidateneeded at least 45 votes in the 224-MLA Karnataka Assembly to secure a seat.
Congress has 135 MLAs in the Karnataka assembly which allowedthem to elect theirthree candidates – Maken, Hussain and Chandrashekhar.
Meanwhile, the BJP has 66 MLAs and was able to get its main candidate, Bhandage, elected easily.
BJP wins eight seats inUttar Pradesh
The BJPsecured victory witheight of the ten Rajya Sabha seats in the state ofUttar Pradesh after severalopposition party membersengaged in cross-voting. In UP,BJP, with 252 MLAs was set to win at least seven seats.
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However, the ruling party managed to win theeighth seat, thanks to seven cross-voting Samajwadi Party MLAs, as well as support fromRashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
Rajya Sabha elections
A total of 41 leaders for 56 seats, including former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and BJP chief JP Nadda, were elected unopposed in recent days.
The polling was heldon Tuesdayfor Rajya Sabha seats from the Congress-ruled Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka as well as Uttar Pradesh governed by the ruling BJP.
(With inputs from agencies)