Rajya Sabha election result: Out of 15 seats in 3 states, BJP wins 10, Congress bags 3 and SP 2

NEW DELHI: Elections to 15 Rajya Sabha seats across 3 states were held on Tuesday amid rampant cross-voting and political drama.
In the 4 Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka, the Congress won 3 seats while the BJP bagged one. One BJP MLA cross-voted for the Congress while another abstained from the election.
Of the 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP bagged 8 seats while the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party managed to win 2 seats.The elections here too saw plenty of cross-voting, with at least 7 SP MLAs voting for BJP candidates.
Contest for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh saw the most political twists as the BJP managed to win the seat after 6 Congress MLAs and 3 independent MLAs cross-voted for the BJP candidate.
Big win for Congress in Karnataka
In a major win for the ruling Congress, all three of its Rajya Sabha candidates secured the requisite number of votes to win their respective seats from Karnataka, after one BJP MLA cross-voted for the ruling party and another abstained.

Karnataka deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar said: “This shows the unity and integrity of Congress. I thank all the MLAs, party workers and the media. I’m very happy to inform you that all Congress candidates have won. I thank all voters, CM and party workers and the AICC President also. I would like to thank Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge.”

Congress candidates Naseer Hussain and former union minister Ajay Maken won with 47 votes, while G C Chandrashekhar secured 45 votes. The BJP won 1 Rajya Sabha seat from the state with candidate Narayansa Bhandage securing 47 votes. The BJP-JD(S) candidate D Kupendra Reddy lost the polls.
In a setback to the BJP-JD(S) alliance, saffron party MLA S T Somashekar voted for Maken while MLA Arbail Shivaram Hebbar abstained from voting in the Rajya Sabha elections.
BJP sweeps UP
The BJP won 8 out of 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday while the Samajwadi Party was able to secure 2 seats, amid a big cross-voting upset as 7 MLAs of Akhilesh Yadav, one MLA of SBSP and one of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party voted for the BJP.

Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said: “We had been saying from the beginning that all 8 candidates of the BJP will win. All our 8 candidates have won today. I congratulate all the winning candidates.”
The BJP had the numbers to win seven of the 10 seats but fielded eight candidates, forcing a contest on one seat, banking on votes from the Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal and the SP rebels.
Major upset in Himachal for Congress
The Congress suffered a major blow in Himachal Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha elections after several party MLAs cross-voted in favour of BJP.

Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost the polls to BJP’s Harsh Mahajan. The Congress said nine MLAs cross-voted in the elections.
Both the candidates bagged 34 votes each after which the BJP leader was declared winner by draw of lots.
It is a major jolt for the Congress which has 40 MLAs in the 68-member state assembly and claimed support of the independents.
(With inputs from agencies)