BJP leaders Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Mahesh Poddar showing victory sign after winning Rajya Sabha polls in Ranchi on Saturday. (PTI photo)
Highlights
- Mahesh Poddar won on Mr Naqvi's first preference votes
- Out of total 81 legislators, 79 cast their votes
- Chamra Linda and Devendra Singh could not cast their vote
Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Mahesh Poddar bagged the two Rajya Sabha seats for BJP from Jharkhand, election to which was held today.
Mr Poddar won on Mr Naqvi's first preference votes.
While Mr Naqvi got first preference vote of 2900, the surplus 264 votes went to Mr Poddar making his count 2664 and pushing JMM's Basant Soren to the third position with 2600, election officials said.
Out of total 81 legislators, 79 cast their votes, they said. JMM legislator Chamra Linda and Congress legislator Devendra Singh could not cast their vote.
Earlier, in the day police said JMM legislator Chamra Linda was arrested following a 2013 arrest warrant in connection with a scuffle with the guards near the Assembly gates.
The Congress legislator also could not vote as he too faced an arrest warrant.
But another Congress legislator Nirmla Devi, who too is facing a warrant, managed to cast her vote as she was escorted by JMM working president and former chief minister Hemant Soren into the Assembly.