New Delhi/Ranchi | In a closely contested Rajya Sabha election in Jharkhand, cross-voting helped NDA-backed independent candidate Parimal Nathwani win one of the two seats in the state on Thursday. The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) secured the other seat.
Nathwani polled 28 votes, defeating the Congress' Pranav Jha who bagged 20 votes.
In Mizoram, ruling Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) secured its first-ever representation in the Rajya Sabha as party candidate K Laltluangkima won the election to the lone seat from the state.
Elections were held on Thursday for two seats in Jharkhand and one in Mizoram as 24 candidates in eight states were elected unopposed after scrutiny on June 11.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the party's media cell head Pawan Khera besides BJP leaders Satish Poonia and Tarun Chugh were among 24 candidates elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha.
On June 11, 19 NDA candidates were declared elected unopposed while the Congress bagged the remaining five.
Bypolls for three Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha were also held earlier, with candidates being elected unopposed.
With this round of Rajya Sabha elections, the ruling NDA has inched closer to the two-thirds majority mark.
The NDA will now have 150 seats in the Rajya Sabha. If it wins another three seats that have fallen vacant in West Bengal, it will have 153 members in the Upper House, still 10 short of a two-thirds majority.
On Thursday, JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram was elected to the other seat in Jharkhand.
Ram received 30 votes in the election, while three votes -- two from the BJP and one from the Congress -- were found invalid.
The BJP-led NDA has 24 MLAs, four short of the minimum 28 first-preference votes required in the 81-member assembly to secure a berth in the Upper House of Parliament.
The ruling INDIA bloc in Jharkhand, including the JMM and the Congress, has 56 members in the assembly.
Soon after Nathwani's win, the Congress launched a scathing attack on the BJP, accusing it of promoting 'horse trading' in Jharkhand.
Jharkhand Congress in-charge K Raju also blamed alliance partners, the RJD and CPI(ML) Liberation for the defeat.
In Mizoram, ZPM's Laltluangkima secured 26 of the 36 votes polled, defeating Zothansangi Hmar of the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF), who received all 10 votes cast by her party's legislators.
Three legislators abstained from voting, including BJP MLAs K Beichhua and K Hrahmo, as well as lone Congress legislator C Ngunlianchunga.
In the 40-member Mizoram Assembly, the ZPM holds 27 seats, followed by the MNF with 10, while the BJP and Congress have two and one legislators, respectively.
The ruling NDA at the Centre is striving to achieve the two-thirds majority mark in both houses of Parliament to help pass crucial constitutional amendment bills.
While the current round of Rajya Sabha elections will help the NDA inch toward the two-thirds mark, in the Lok Sabha, it is still far from that magic figure of 363, despite the TMC switchover.
Sources said that from its current strength of 148 MPs, the NDA will gain two seats in the current round of RS elections.
With three TMC MPs resigning, the NDA is set to secure all three seats from West Bengal after the bypolls, upping its tally to 153, 10 short of a two-thirds majority in the Upper House.
As more TMC MPs are likely to resign in the Upper House, the NDA may achieve the figure of 163, which will give it the numerical strength to pass all constitutional amendment bills.
The ruling alliance's strength may decrease by November when the term of 10 MPs from Uttar Pradesh ends, and the Samajwadi Party may gain some seats in the Rajya Sabha, with its improved numerical strength in the state assembly.
The Opposition INDIA bloc currently has 64 MPs on its side, after the exit of DMK with eight MPs and AAP with three MPs distancing itself from the grouping.
Independent parties such as YSRCP and BJD, with seven and six seats, and MDMK, can go either way in the Rajya Sabha.
In the Lok Sabha, however, the NDA's numbers can go up to 213 with around 20 more TMC MPs forming a separate group and supporting it.
In the Lower House, 363 MPs are needed to get a two-thirds majority.
New Delhi | CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Thursday asserted that the party's two MLAs voted for the Congress candidate in the Jharkhand Rajya Sabha election, rejecting Congress's allegations of cross-voting.
Jharkhand Congress in-charge K Raju earlier blamed alliance partners Rashtriya Janata Dal and CPI(ML) Liberation for the defeat of Congress candidate Pranav Jha, claiming the two parties did not vote for him.
"As for speculations over Jharkhand Rajya Sabha voting, we can tell with full responsibility that our two MLAs voted for the Congress candidate as planned. Two of our senior leaders, PBM Haldhar Mahato and CCM Geeta Mandal, duly verified the votes cast by CPI(ML) Liberation MLAs," Bhattacharya said in a post on X.
NDA-backed Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani secured one of the two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand, defeating Pranav Jha. JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram won the other seat.
Nathwani polled 28 votes, while Jha secured 20. Ram received 30 votes.
Three votes -- two from the BJP, one from the Congress -- were declared invalid.
The ruling INDIA bloc has 56 members in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, while the BJP-led NDA has 24 MLAs.
Bengaluru | In the first electoral battle since the new government under Chief Minister D K Shivakumar took charge in Karnataka, the ruling Congress on Thursday won five of the seven Legislative Council seats that went to polls, while the opposition BJP bagged two.
The results also brought to light cross-voting by BJP and JD(S) legislators in favour of Congress candidates, as the total number of votes received by the ruling party is 151, which is 11 votes more than the expected 140 votes, sources said.
Eight candidates were in the fray for seven MLC seats to be elected by MLAs, for which voting was held on Thursday at Vidhana Soudha. Votes were subsequently counted in the evening.
Five candidates fielded by the Congress -- Thippannappa Kamknoor, P V Mohan, B K Hariprasad (KPCC president), Shivanna B S, and Vinay Karthik Prakash -- emerged victorious. BJP's two candidates -- Lingaraj Patil and Raghu R -- also won. JD(S)' lone candidate, Govindaraju, faced defeat.
Congress win in the election is seen as a morale booster for new CM Shivakumar and the party's new State President B K Hariprasad. The party's success in garnering more votes than expected, especially from other parties, while keeping its own tally intact amid fears of internal cross-voting, reflects their leadership and organisational skills, a senior party functionary said.
For the BJP, the cross-voting seems to have come as a "surprise" and is seen as a major setback amid factional rifts within and discontent about the state leadership, a leader said. For the JD(S), this result reflects the vulnerabilities it may face in future with the emergence of Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga strongman, as CM.
The polls were held as the terms of seven MLCs -- Congress leaders Naseer Ahmed, Tippannappa, and B K Hariprasad, BJP leaders N Nagaraju (MTB), Prathap Simha Nayak K, and Sunil Vallyapur; and Govindaraju of JD(S) are set to expire upon their retirement on June 30.
According to sources, preliminary information suggests that three BJP and eight JD(S) MLAs allegedly cross-voted in this election, and one BJP MLA's vote was declared invalid.
From the Congress party, B K Hariprasad received 30 votes, P V Mohan 29 votes, B S Shivanna 30 votes, Tippannappa Kamakanur 30 votes, and Vinay Karthik --who is considered close to Shivakumar -- 32 votes, securing victory, according to sources.
From the BJP, Raghu R received 29 votes, and Lingaraj Patil received 27 votes, and both were elected. The victory quota for a candidate had been fixed at 27.63 votes. However, Lingaraj Patil failed to reach that quota and ultimately won in the elimination round. Among the votes cast for Raghu, one vote was declared invalid, sources added.
Govindraju, who contested from the JD(S), managed to secure only 14 votes.
In the 224-member Assembly, whose current strength is 222, Congress has 135 MLAs (including Deputy Speaker) and has the support of one from Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha, two Independents, and two unattached members suspended from BJP -- S T Somashekar and Shivaram Hebbar.
The BJP, which has 62 MLAs in the Assembly, had the support of Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha's G Janardhan Reddy, who is now with the BJP and expelled saffron party leader Basangouda Patil Yatnal. The JD(S) has 18 MLAs.
Meanwhile, following this result, the strength of the Congress in the Legislative Council will increase to 39. The strength of the BJP will decline to 28, while the strength of the JD(S) will fall to 6.
Hailing the Congress party winning 5 seats in the Legislative Council elections, CM Shivakumar said the outcome reflected legislators' support for the government's welfare programmes and the interests of the people of the state.
"Today, all legislators have expressed their confidence. Members across party lines have stood in support of us. Along with that, all our legislators have remained united," he said.
On allegations of cross-voting, Shivakumar said he neither sought support from legislators of other parties nor knew who had voted for whom because the election was conducted through a secret ballot.
Congress general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala, described the result as a significant endorsement of the Congress government and its welfare guarantees.
Admitting cross-voting by BJP MLAs, senior party leader R Ashoka said that those who betrayed the party will be identified and a decision will be taken on action against them.
BJP State President Vijayendra said, "Who did cross-voting and why? Once we get information, the party will decide."
Ahead of voting on Thursday, both Congress and JD(S) had sequestered their legislators in separate resorts on the city outskirts, amid fear of possible cross-voting.
Earlier in the day, stating that they voted according to their conscience, Somashekar and Hebbar said, neither the BJP nor the JD(S) contacted them seeking votes, while Shivakumar contacted them and sought support for the Congress candidate.
Meanwhile, accusing Yatnal of violating secrecy by writing to the BJP national president on whom he would vote for, Congress objected to his vote, but the returning officer rejected the appeal.
