Congress thwarts BJP in Rajasthan, bags 3 Rajya Sabha seats

BJP’s Ghanshyam Tiwari won the fourth seat, while BJP-backed Independent candidate Subhash Chandra lost the polls

Congress on Friday managed to thwart BJP’s plans to reduce its presence in Rajasthan with the help of independent candidate Subash Chandra in the Rajya Sabha polls, as it managed to ensure the victory of Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari.

BJP’s Ghanshyam Tiwari won the fourth seat, while Independent candidate Subhash Chandra, a media baron who is an outgoing Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana, lost the polls.

The counting of votes in Haryana and Maharashtra were delayed after the BJP approached the Election Commission alleging violation of rules in the votes of five MLAs – three MVA lawmakers in Maharashtra and two in Haryana.

The entry of Chandra, who owns Zee Group, with the support of the BJP had queered the pitch for the Congress in Rajasthan. The BJP had promised its surplus votes – one needs 41 first preference votes in Rajasthan to win – to Chandra, who was trying to woo independents and smaller parties.

However, deft political manoeuvring by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who pacified half a dozen sulking Congress MLAs besides managing to win the support of two Bharatiya Tribal Party MLAs who had initially announced not to participate in voting, helped the Congress to ensure the victory of all the three candidates.

Surjewala bagged 43 votes while Wasnik got 42 and Tiwari 41. Chandra could bag only 30 votes. Interestingly, BJP MLA Shobharani Kushwaha voted for the Congress and she was expelled by the saffron party later.

BJP’s Tiwari got 43 votes. This would mean Chandra got 27 BJP votes and three from Hanuman Beniwal’s Rashtriya Loktantrik Party.

In Karnataka, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as well as her BJP counterparts Jaggesh and Lahar Singh, and Congress Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh have been declared winners. The disagreement between Congress and JD(S) helped the BJP win an extra seat, though it did not have enough first preference votes.

While Congress is upbeat about a possible victory in Haryana, there were interesting developments in the state as independent MLA Balraj Kundu abstained from voting. There was also speculation about sulking Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, as he said he voted as per his conscience.

However, another Congress MLA claimed that Bishnoi voted for Maken.