Lucknow: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious in the Rajya Sabha elections held on Tuesday, winning eight out of the 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India. The Samajwadi Party (SP), the main opposition party in the state, managed to win only two seats, while its third candidate lost due to cross-voting by some of its MLAs.
The Rajya Sabha elections were held on 15 seats in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, following the retirement of the incumbent members. The elections were conducted through secret ballot, with each MLA casting one vote for one candidate. The candidates required a minimum of 36 votes to win a seat in UP, where the BJP has a comfortable majority in the 403-member assembly.
The results of the Rajya Sabha elections were declared late in the evening, after the counting of votes. The BJP candidates who won the elections are Sudhanshu Trivedi, RPN Singh, Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, Sadhna Singh, Amarpal Maurya, Sangeeta Balwant, Agra Mayor Naveen Jain and Hardeep Singh Puri. The SP candidates who won the elections are Jaya Bachchan and PDA candidate Ramjilal Suman. The SP candidate who lost the election is former IAS officer Alok Ranjan.
A total of 395 votes out of 399 exercised their franchise for the 10 seats. Four MLAs, including Maharaji Devi, the wife of former minister Gayatri Prajapati, did not cast their votes. Maharaji Devi did not turn up for voting, while the other three MLAs were absent due to various reasons.
The SP suffered a setback as eight of its MLAs cross-voted in favor of the BJP candidates, defying the party whip. The MLAs who cross-voted are Rakesh Pandey, Rakesh Pratap Singh, Abhay Singh, Vinod Chaturvedi, Manoj Pandey, Maharaji Devi (absent), Pooja Pal (voted for NDA) and Ashutosh Maurya (absent). Some of them also raised the slogan of Jai Shri Ram, a popular slogan of the BJP, after casting their votes.
The SP chief Akhilesh Yadav expressed his disappointment over the cross-voting and said that the party will take strict action against the defectors. He also accused the BJP of using money and muscle power to lure the SP MLAs. He said that the BJP has no regard for democracy and constitutional values.
The BJP, on the other hand, hailed the victory as a reflection of the people’s trust in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The BJP leaders said that the party will continue to work for the development and welfare of the state and the country. They also thanked the allies and the independent MLAs who supported the BJP candidates.
