BJP upsets BSP, wins 9 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh

Smarting under humiliating defeats in the Phulpur and Gorakhpur Lok Sabha bypolls, the BJP effected a major upset in the Rajya Sabha biennial elections from Uttar Pradesh. All the nine candidates the party fielded romped home on Friday while the BSP candidate, who had the backing of the Samajwadi Party (SP), Congress and RLD, bit the dust in the polls marred by cross-voting by opposition and the BJP allies.

SP nominee Jaya Bachchan, however, emerged victorious with 38 first preference votes. The winners from the BJP included Union minister Arun Jaitley, party spokesman G V L Narsimha Rao, Kanta Kardam, Ashok Bajpai, Harnath Singh Yadav, Vijay Pal Singh, Anil Jain, Sakaldeep Rajbhar and Anil Agarwal.

BJP's ninth candidate Anil Agarwal managed to scrape through with the help of the second preference votes after neither Agarwal nor the BSP nominee Bhimrao Ambedkar failed to secure 37 first preference votes.

According to sources, at least one MLA each from the SP and BSP voted for the BJP nominees while two independent legislators also lent support to the saffron party.

BSP MLA Anil Singh and SP legislator Nitin Agarwal declared that they had voted for the BJP. Suspense remained on the support of controversial indpendent legislator Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya though he had pledged his support to the SP.

BSP legislator Mukhtar Ansari and SP MLA Harnam Yadav could not cast their votes as they were in jail. The votes of one MLA each from BJP and BSP were declared invalid.
BJP had the required strength to ensure the win for eight nominees but it had, in attempt to get an extra candidate elected and nix the new-found friendship between the SP and the BSP, had fielded nine candidates.

BJP has been ''aggressively wooing'' the legislators of the smaller outfits and as well as some from the SP, BSP and Congress to gets its ninth candidate elected to the upper house and prevent the lone BSP nominee from reaching Rajya Sabha with the help of the three opposition parties.

SP and BSP had put up one candidate each. There were 10 vacancies in the RS from UP and a candidate needed 37 votes to sail through. BJP, with its allies, had 324 members in the house and it had 28 spare votes.

The SP with 46 members, had nine spare votes. BSP had 19 legislators. BSP counted  on the support of nine spare votes from SP, seven Congress and one RLD legislators.