With the elections nearing for for 57 Rajya Sabha seats in 15 states and with a contest in at least six states, political parties are in a last minute scramble to ensure they get their numbers right. It is then that the magic of cross voting and surplus votes comes into play.
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“Any effort on the part of the government to influence the MLAs…should be not only discouraged but stopped, and the two MLAs should not be prevented from voting tomorrow by arresting them”, the plea said.
Of the 11 vacancies caused by the retirement of outgoing lawmakers, election to four seats from two graduates’ (South & North-West) and two teachers’ (West & North-West) constituencies in the state were held on Thursday. The wife of an industrialist she is believed to enjoy a strong clout in the ruling party circles.
All eyes will be on the voting on Saturday for biennial elections for 27 Rajya Sabha seats in seven states even as suspense remains on the fate of senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal and the outcome of polls in Karnataka, where charges of large-scale horse-trading have surfaced.
The SP has 229 MLAs, BSP 80, BJP 41 and the Congress 29. Congress has 28 MLAs in the state.
In fact, the Mayawati bail-out is crucial for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Congress had fielded one candidate and possessed just that many votes for a win. BJP candidates include Bhupendra Singh and Daya Shanker Singh. It will still not be the single largest party, but will narrow the gap with the Congress.
In Haryana, the owner of the Zee television channel Subhash Chandra is locked in a contest with the well-known lawyer R K Anand, who is the INLD nominee. From Maharashtra, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and Congress leader P Chidambaram were elected unopposed, along with NCP leader Praful Patel, BJP ideologues Vinay Sahastrabudhe and Vikas Mahatme and Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut. A decision has not been taken, but there are clear indications that the Congress would not allow its MLAs to vote for Chandra whose channel spearheads anti-Congress campaigns.
The most interesting battle is for the fourth seat from Karnataka.
For BJP which has 44 members in the assembly, V Somanna secured 31 votes, while the party’s second candidate Lahar Singh Siroya got 27 first preference votes and won through second preference votes.
A similar tug-of-war is imminent in Karnataka, where allegations of bribing JD (S) and independent MLAs have marred the polls.
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He sought Congress support and expressed faith in the party leadership. Besides, one of the proposers for the JD (S) candidate has switched sides. Therefore, EC rules make it mandatory for MLAs to use only the official pen provided by it in both the elections.
