BJP suffers setback in Rajasthan in crucial Rajya Sabha polls In Rajasthan, where there was a fierce struggle, the Congress won three seats. The BJP won one seat. Pramod Tiwari won along with Congress’ Mukul Wasnik and Randeep Surjewala. Here BJP MLA Sobha Rani Khushwaha voted for the Congress. In Rajasthan, the fortunes were between Congress’ Pramod Tiwari and BJP-backed independent Subhash Chandra. Subhash Chandra failed.
At the same time, the BJP has made gains in Karnataka. Here the BJP won three seats and the Congress one. Union Minister and senior BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP’s Jaggesh and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh were among the winners. With six candidates submitting nomination papers for the four seats, the stage was set for a heated contest here.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has termed the victory of Congress candidates in three seats in Rajasthan as a victory for democracy. ‘It was clear from the outset that the Congress had the majority to win all three candidates. But it was the BJP that stopped an independent and did the horse-trading. But the united action of the Congress MLAs was the right answer for them. The BJP will face a similar defeat in the 2023 assembly elections, ”Gehlot said.
Meanwhile, the BJP said it had expelled Dholpur MLA Sobha Rani Khushwaha, who had voted for the Congress, from the party’s primary membership. As the BJP sought to capitalize on the divisions in the Congress, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan, Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Haryana and Siddaramaiah in Karnataka took the lead in preventing defection. The MLAs, who had been shifted to resorts for fear of being sacked, were brought to the polls in the morning.
Out of the 57 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha, candidates from various parties were elected unopposed to 41 seats. Voting took place in 16 seats. The unpredictable battle was for four seats in Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka.