New Delhi: Rajya Sabha elections are being held across the country to fill the 16 vacant seats. A total of 41 candidates have been elected unopposed. Rest 16 is waiting for the election results which will be concluded today. In the view of Presidential elections due in July, the Rajya Sabha election has gained more weight.
57 seats were vacant across 15 states. Out of which, BJP held 23 seats, 8 by Congress, and the rest seats were held by regional political parties.
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Haryana are witnessing neck-to-neck fights today. Rajasthan and Maharashtra witnessing the toughest contest among all states. Both sides have kept their MLAs in resorts to prevent poaching.
Union Ministers Nirmala Sitaraman and Piyush Goyal, Congress’s Randeep Surjewala, Jairam Ramesh and Mukul Wasnik, and Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut are the big names contesting the polls.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra is witnessing a Rajya Sabha poll nearly after two decades. As Maha Vikas Aghadi’s 2 MLAs are in jail and were rejected special bail, MVA is in trouble. But, As per AIMIM has confirmed that two of its MLAs will vote in favor of Congress to defeat BJP.
In Karnataka, because of the deadlock between Congress and JDS, a neck-to-neck fight can be expected. None of the three parties has a clear majority to win the fourth seat. But, All three have fielded their candidates and hoping for a win.
The maximum seats, 11, are located in Uttar Pradesh. It is followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with six seats each. Five seats from Bihar, four each from Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh, and three each from Madhya Pradesh and Odisha were also vacant.
Since 1990, no party had crossed the 100 mark in the Upper House of the parliament. This time BJP has broken all the barriers to cross the 100 mark making it easier for the presidential election.
