The results of last week’s Rajya Sabha elections are a mixed bag, with the Congress holding its own in Rajasthan and the BJP getting the better of the ruling MVA, especially the Shiv Sena, by winning an additional seat in Maharashtra. The BJP also succeeded in getting three candidates, including Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, elected from Karnataka. The failure of Congress and the JD(S) to agree on a candidate helped the BJP win an additional seat in Karnataka. In Haryana, the Congress suffered embarrassment when its candidate Ajay Maken lost because of cross-voting by a Congress MLA. The contests for the Upper House from the four States had attracted special attention because of the efforts by the BJP to maximise its tally and the attempts by others to counter the challenge. But the elections were significantly more for their impact on the politics of the states than on the equations in the Rajya Sabha.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot again proved that he is a master of state politics when he ensured the victory of Congress candidates and the defeat of the resourceful independent candidate, media baron Subhash Chandra, who was supported by the BJP. Gehlot’s performance strengthens the party’s and his own position in the state which will see Assembly elections next year. The Shiv Sena suffered a serious blow in a much-publicised fight when one of the party’s two candidates lost to the BJP. The fact that it could not ensure that it got the promised votes of minor parties and independents would rankle, and show the BJP as a better operator. In Haryana, Congress lost because of cross-voting by its own MLAs, and that shows the factional and personal fault lines within the state party. The party has removed one MLA from the party post.
The elections in Maharashtra and Haryana went to the wire with counting being postponed following complaints to the Election Commission. There were questions about the decisions of the Commission too. The elections also showed that it has now become normal for parties to field candidates from states where they are not usually residents. Whatever the legality of the practice, it violates the idea represented by the Council of States. At the end of it all, what is most striking is the tenacity and purposefulness that the BJP brought to its campaign, countered in good measure only in Rajasthan by Congress. The elections also saw what are now the most unseemly scenes in politics — MLAs being herded into resorts and hotels to secure them from poaching by rivals. There are few other illustrations of the degradation of politics in the country.