This Article is From Jun 11, 2016

Rajya Sabha Polls: Will Parties Get Their Math Right?

Rajya Sabha Polls: Will Parties Get Their Math Right?

Highlights

  • Close contest in UP, MP, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Karnataka
  • Six ministers are seeking to make a return to the Rajya Sabha
  • After the elections, BJP will increase its tally in the Upper House
New Delhi: Elections for 57 Rajya Sabha seats in 15 states will take place today and with a contest in seven states, political parties are in a last minute scramble to ensure they get their numbers right.

Here are the latest developments

  1. In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP's support to an independent candidate has turned the election for 11 seats into a contest. Most impacted is the Congress' one candidate Kapil Sibal, who is now looking to Mayawati's BSP and Ajit Singh's RLD for help.

  2. The Samajwadi Party has seven candidates in UP, the BSP two, the BJP one and the Congress one. Independent candidate Preeti Mahapatra has been backed by the BJP.

  3. In Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP has big numbers, two of the party's candidates will win easily. For the third there is a contest between the BJP and the Congress.

  4. In Jharkhand, where two seats are up for grabs, the BJP has fielded a candidate called Mahesh Poddar as a third candidate to make things difficult for the Congress-backed Jharkhand Mukti Morcha candidate, Basant Soren, who is short of six votes to win the second seat. The BJP's Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will win the first.

  5. In Uttarakhand, the Congress' Pradeep Tamta faces a contest from two independents. Mayawati's decision on who her party will support could decide the contest not only in Uttarakhand, but also UP and Madhya Pradesh.

  6. In Karnataka, where the Election Commission has refused to cancel the Rajya Sabha polls at the behest of the Janata Dal Secular, it's the Congress that has forced a contest for the four seats by fielding a third candidate. The BJP will win a seat but the JDS is fuming that its one candidate BM Farook may not.

  7. In Haryana, the Congress has no direct stake but is in a quandary. Of two seats, the BJP will win one and there is a contest between a BJP-backed Independent and an INLD backed one for the second. The Congress' support will decide the winner. If it backs BJP's candidate it will help increase the rival's numbers in the Rajya Sabha, but its local unit is dead against voting for the INLD backed candidate.

  8. Six ministers are seeking to return to the Rajya Sabha in tomorrow's election including, Muqtar Abbas Naqvi, Venkaiah Naidu, Nirmala Sitharaman, Chaudhary Birender Singh, Piyush Goyal and Suresh Prabhu.

  9. At the end of the Rajya Sabha contest, the BJP will increase its tally in the Upper House where it has had trouble with pushing legislation. It will still not be the single largest party, but will narrow the gap with the Congress.

  10. Members of a state's legislative assembly vote in the Rajya Sabha elections.



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