NDA candidate Harivansh re-elected as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman

JD(U)'s Harivansh was on Monday elected as the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha for the second time.

He defeated the joint Opposition candidate Manoj K Jha of RJD in a voice vote. The Opposition did not seek a division of the votes, as it was clear that the camp did not have the numbers to take on the NDA candidate.

Harivansh was earlier elected Deputy Chairman on 8 August 2018 and remained in the chair of Deputy Chairman till his membership in the Upper House expired earlier this year. He was re-elected later to the Upper House later.

Motion to elect Harivansh as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman was moved by JP Nadda and seconded by Tawarchand Gehlot. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Tiruchi Siva, Javed Ali Khan moved separate motions to elect Jha as Deputy Chairman. Anand Sharma, Ahmed Patel, Jairam Ramesh seconded the motion in favor of Jha.

Congratulating Harivansh on his election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he is an honest face of both politics and journalism, which was his vocation earlier before entering politics. He has earned this post through his hard work.

"In running the House, the umpire (Chair) faces more challenges than the players (MPs). To make MPs adhere to the rules is a challenge. When he was chosen for the first time (in 2018), some people had some reservations. But he earned their faith through his impartial conduct of the House," Modi said.

Jha said the fight was not against two personalities but on issues. "We have chosen a middle path and that is the beauty of democracy," he said congratulating Harivansh.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said "two good people were candidates but only one could win."

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said he is sure that Harivansh will remain impartial as he was in his first term as Deputy Chairman.