Rajya Sabha Election Counting In Three States Ends As Cross-Voting Dominates The Scene

As the voting for the total 15 Rajya Sabha seats across three states took place today (Tuesday) – ten in Uttar Pradesh, four in Karnataka and one in Himachal Pradesh, the result came with reports of operation lotus and cross-voting instances.

The Congress-ruled state of Himachal Pradesh has sparked discussion after the BJP candidate won the lone Rajya Sabha seat because of the cross-voting. The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu accused the BJP of kidnapping its MLAs by the CRPF and Haryana police. The BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan won the Rajya Sabha seat despite the Congress majority in the assembly.

The chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that some of the MLAs sold their integrity after getting elected as the symbol of the Congress party. He said that nine instances of cross–voting took place, three from independent members and six from Congress. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi asked the BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan who won Himachal Pradesh’s lone seat, to “look into himself. “If we believe that people can change after just a dinner, then we live in a fool’s paradise,” he said.

In Karnataka, winning all the seats it contested, Congress candidate Ajay Maken, Dr Syed Naseer Hussain and GC Chandrashekhar secured 47, 46 and 46 votes respectively. The BJP candidate Narayana Bandage won one seat the party contested.

In Uttar Pradesh, out of the total ten, the BJP won all the eight seats it contested while the Samajwadi Party (SP) secured two. There are reports of cross-voting in Uttar Pradesh too.

However, after the defeat of the Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat because of the cross-voting, the BJP has claimed that the Himachal Pradesh government has lost its majority and the party therefore going to present a non-confidence motion against the state government. The chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu alleged that at least 6 Congress MLAs were taken to Haryana