Rajya Sabha Elections 2018 Live Updates: Voting will take place for 25 vacant seats across six states.
Election of members for 58 Rajya Sabha seats and a bye-election seat is taking place across 16 states today. Out of 58 Rajya Sabha seats, polling is being held for 25 vacant seats in six states as 33 candidates from 10 states have been elected unopposed. The voting started at 9 am and will continue till 4 pm. Counting of votes for the election will begin from 5 pm and results are expected to be announced by today evening.
The polling is taking place in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. The BJP is expected to gain about a dozen seats in the Upper House and consolidate its position as the largest party. However, it is still far from a majority in the 245-member house.
Elected representatives of state legislatures will elect Rajya Sabha members by a process of indirect voting in what is called proportional representation with a single transferable vote.
RELATED READ | How are members elected to Rajya Sabha?
Here’s the list of states and the number of seats which will be filled after today’s election:
Andhra Pradesh (3), Bihar (6), Chhattisgarh (1), Gujarat (4), Haryana (1), Himachal Pradesh (1), Karnataka (4), Madhya Pradesh (5), Maharashtra (6), Telangana (3), Uttar Pradesh (10), Uttarakhand (1), West Bengal (5), Odisha (3), Rajasthan (3) and Jharkhand (2).
Follow our Rajya Sabha Elections 2018 Live Updates here:
Three candidates - BJP's Sameer Uranv and Pradeep Kumar Sonthalia and Congress's Dheeraj Sahu are in the fray for the two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand.
In Jharkhand, counting of votes in the election for the Rajya Sabha seats began after the Election Commission rejected complaints from the Congress and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) that a JVM MLA did not show his ballot to the party's polling agent.
BJP state unit president Dharamlal Kaushik adressed the media after the victory, saying, "We have got 51 votes, which is two more than our actual strength in the House, while the Congress got 36, three less than its strength. This clearly reflects infighting within the main opposition," he said. He expressed confidence that BJP will continue the "winning spree" in the state assembly election scheduled to be held by the end of this year.
BJP national general secretary Saroj Pandey defeated Congress rival Lekhram Sahu to win the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Chhattisgarh. Pandey polled 51 votes, while Sahu secured 36 votes in the election held at the state assembly complex, wherein 87 of the 90 state legislators cast their votes, PTI reported. The House currently has 49 BJP MLAs, 39 Congress legislators, one BSP member and an independent legislator.
The TMC had which fielded four candidates -- Nadimul Haque, who was renominated, Subhasish Chakraborty, Abir Biswas and Santunu Sen -- and had announced its support to Singhvi for the fifth seat.
Trinamool Congress bagged four out of the five West Bengal seats in Rajya Sabha. Election to the five Rajya Sabha seats from the state was necessitated as the terms of Kunal Ghosh, Bibek Gupta and Nadimul Haque of the TMC and Tapan Sen of CPI(M) will end on April 2.
Counting of votes for Rajya Sabha elections has started in Karnataka after delay due to Janata Dal's complaint to EC about some discrepancy while voting.
Congress Abhishek Manu Singhvi won the Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal. Addressing the media after the result was declared, he said, 'It is humbling and uplifting. It is a result of cooperation between different groups and MLAs."
Subhasish Chakraborty of TMC won the West Bengal Rajya Sabha seat. "I do believe in democracy. My priority will be to fight against corruption," he said ater winning.
In Uttar Pradesh, counting of votes for the elections began after clearance from the Election Commission.
Andhra Pradesh TDP leader C M Ramesh, has been unanimously elected to Rajya Sabha consecutively.
Abir Ranjan Biswas of TMC won the West Bengal Rajya Sabha seat. 'I am at the seventh heaven of delight. This is the brain child of CM Mamata didi. I am very hopeful that I will live up to her expectations,' he said.
In Karnataka, Congress leader G Parameshwara claimed, "Counting of votes has not started as yet because Janata Dal had complained to EC about some discrepancy. Janata Dal has boycotted the voting now, so that will also enhance our chances of victory."
Meanwhile, SP and BSP demand from Election Commission to declare votes of BJP's Nitin Agrawal and BSP's Anil Singh invalid alleging that they did not show their ballot paper to the polling agent.
ECI has received a complaint from Jharkhand Vikas Morcha for cancellation of vote of Prakash Ram, who cross- voted. Further view will be taken by the Commission after receiving Returning Officer's report: Election Commission of India
"BJP will win in other states as well under the leadership of PM Modi and party president Amit Shah," Saroj Pandey told ANI.
Saroj Pandey of the BJP wins the Chhattisgarh Rajya Sabha seat up for grabs. Gets 51 votes as opposed to Lekhram Sahu of the Congress who got 36
Voting has been completed with all 80 MLAs voting. One seat secured for BJP candidate, Sameer Oraon.
Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) Party issues suspension notice to its MLA, Prakash Ram, for voting without showing his vote to part's election agent. Party, having two MLAs, requests Returning Officer to cancel his vote. Party Chief Babulal Marandi blames BJP for horse trading. JVM (P) had decided to go with UPA candidate, Dhiraj Sahu, for the second RS seat in Jharkhand. BJP has put up Pradeep Sonthalia as the second candidate despite not having direct numbers. Both sides claim to have got the requisite numbers on the second seat.
Voting for the five Rajya Sabha seats in West Bengal ended at 4 pm. All the six candidates in the fray were present in the Assembly premises during the polling.
Here is a copy of the memorandum sent to the Election Commission by Congress
Meanwhile, Congress wrote to the Election Commission claiming that Jharkhand Vikas Morcha MLA Prakash Ram violated the code of conduct and appealing that his vote be cancelled. As per the letter, Congress claimed Ram 'did not show ballot paper and concealed marked column' which violates 'the provisions of Rule 39AA of Conduct of Election Rules, 1961'.
For those who have just joined us, there are 11 candidates for 10 Rajya Sabha seats and 37 first preference votes are required for victory in each seat. The BJP has fielded nine candidates, including Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
33 candidates from 10 states were declared elected unopposed on March 15. Seven union ministers including Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar were among them.
The Opposition is now banking heavily on the two votes of Independents -- Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya and his close associate and MLA Vinod Saroj, news agency PTI reported.
With one BSP MLA believed to have cross-voted and two others in jail being denied permission to vote in the Rajya Sabha polls, the Opposition faced a challenge of numbers to ensure victory for their second candidate.
Meanwhile, in what could be seen as a big relief for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Delhi High Court has set aside the recommendations of the Election Commission to disqualify the 20 AAP MLAs in connection to the office of profit case. The Election Commission will now rehear the office of profit case.
"Two senior Congress leaders cross-voted in the first ballot paper. Returning officer allowed them to vote again in a fresh ballot paper. Illegal voting is going on, requested EC Observer to counter mandate the process," ANI quotes HD Kumaraswamy, JDS as saying on Rajya Sabha elections underway in Karnataka.
After the success of the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) combine in the Lok Sabha bye-elections in Gorakhpur and Phulpur, the parties Friday are facing another contest against the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. Voting started at 9 am this morning in Lucknow for 10 seats. There is an indirect contest between Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and SP president Akhilesh Yadav for the last seat.
While eight of the BJP’s candidates have been elected to the Upper House, Adityanath is trying to drum up support to ensure the party’s ninth candidate Anil Agarwal is elected as well. Akhilesh, meanwhile, has assured support of SP’s surplus vote to BSP nominee Bhimrao Ambedkar. READ MORE
Do you have questions on the Rajya Sabha election process? We've got you covered. Here's a quick explainer on how members of the Upper House are elected. READ HERE
In a jolt to the BSP, its legislator Anil Singh voted for BJP candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls currently underway in Uttar Pradesh. Talking to the media after casting his vote, Singh said he voted for the BJP on "antaratma ki awaaz" (inner call). "My inside asked me to vote for the BJP," the legislator from Purwa in Unnao said. The BSP MLA, however, said he did not know what his other party legislators were up to.
In a related development, SP legislator from Hardoi Nitin Agarwal also voted for the BJP candidates. His father Naresh Agarwal joined the BJP earlier this month. Nitin told the media that the people would punish the unholy alliance between the SP and the BSP.
"The SP preferred a person who entertains the society (Jaya Bachchan) over a person who serves the society (Naresh Agarwal) which is very unfortunate," he said, predicting that all the nine BJP candidates would win.
Election to the five Rajya Sabha seats from the state was necessitated as the terms of Kunal Ghosh, Bibek Gupta and Nadimul Haque of the TMC and Tapan Sen of CPI(M) will end on April 2. Mukul Roy, who quit the TMC and joined the BJP last year, has already resigned from the Rajya Sabha.
Polling is currently underway for four Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka. Five candidates, including three from the ruling Congress and one each from the opposition -- BJP and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) ---are contesting for the four seats.
This is likely the first time the polls are coinciding with the Karnataka Legislative Assembly election, which is due by the end of May.
A candidate needs 46 votes to be elected to the Upper House. READ MORE
"All the nine candidates of BJP will win. SP insulted their workers and people will answer them for choosing a candidate that entertains the society rather than one who serves the society," ANI quotes Nitin Agrawal son of Naresh Agrawal as saying.
The number of votes needed to win the one Rajya Sabha seat in the state is 71 and the CPM-led alliance, with 90 MLAs in the state assembly, has more than enough numbers.
In West Bengal, six candidates are in the fray for five seats. Ruling TMC has fielded four candidates — Nadimul Haq, Subhashish Chakraborty, Abir Biswas and Santunu Sen. Seeking unity amongst the opposition parties ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has extended her support to Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Singhvi is the lone nominee from the Congress regime. The sixth candidate, who would be in the fray, is Rabin Deb from the CPM.
A candidate would require at least 50 votes to win. The TMC has 213 votes, Congress has 42 votes and the CPM has 26. READ MORE
"BJP will win all the nine Rajya Sabha seats where we have fielded our candidates. Nine more BJP candidates will make entry to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh this time," Deputy state Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya tells ANI.
Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav says there will be no cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections being held in Uttar Pradesh, but BJP MLAs will cross-vote in their favour.