Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 27: Amidst complaints of large scale cross-voting, by the BJP in Karnataka and the Congress and the Samajwadi Party in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh respectively, in the polling for 15 seats in the Rajya Sabha, the results have gone on the expected party line in Karnataka with the Congress winning three seats and the BJP won while the BJP-JD(S) combine attempt to queer the pitched failed to click.
The counting of votes for the lone seat in Himachal Pradesh has been stalled for, what the chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu claimed “hooliganism” by the opposition BJP while the counting was progressing slowly in Uttar Pradesh and the results could be expected late on Tuesday night.
The party sources said the Congress and Samajwadi Party MLAs have cross-voted in droves during the Rajya Sabha polls bringing the INDIA bloc under huge pressure ahead of the general election. The beneficiary was the BJP, which stands to gain two extra seats in the Upper House.
Three Congress candidates from Karnataka, along with one from BJP, secured victories. There were five candidates for the four Rajya Sabha seats from the state. All three of Congress’ candidates– former Union Minister Ajay Maken, and current Rajya Sabha MPs Syed Nasir Hussain and G C Chandrashekar– won, BJP candidate and former MLC Narayansa Bhadage won while Kupendra Reddy, the JD(S) nominee lost giving a jolt to the newly-formed BJP-JD(S) alliance. The BJP has admitted that at least two of its MLAs have cross-voted for the Congress candidates.
In Himachal Pradesh – where the Congress won 40 of 68 assembly seats in 2022 and thought it had the support of three independent lawmakers and should have sailed through the polling but its candidate, the noted lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, is believed to be facing a shock defeat due to reported cross-voting by at least six Congress MLAs and all the three independents in favour of the nominee of the BJP which has only 25 MLAs in the hill state.
The BJP has also claimed that the Sukhu government had lost the majority in the House and demanded his resignation. The party said it would move a no-confidence motion in the Sukhu government in the Himachal Assembly on Thursday if the chief minister did not submit his resignation till then. The BJP had forced a contest in the Rajya Sabha elections by fielding ex-Congress MLA Harsh Mahajan. A defeat will hugely dent the prestige of the Chief Minister.
A big upset is also anticipated in UP where seven MLAs of Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, one MLA of SBSP and one of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party are believed to have voted for the BJP. The BJP, which has the numbers to win seven of the 10 seats, fielded eight candidates, forcing a contest on one seat, banking on votes from the Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal and the SP rebels.
The rebels’ message came loud and clear last evening when eight MLAs skipped a meeting called by Mr Yadav. On Tuesday morning, ahead of elections, the party’s chief whip Manoj Pandey resigned from his post seeking right to vote according to his conscience. Mr Yadav kept a stiff upper lip, saying the decision to field a third SP candidate was only to “test” loyalty of the party members. “Our third seat was actually a test to identify true companions…” he posted on X in a swipe at rebel lawmakers.
In Karnataka the ruling Congress won three of the four seats, indicating a turning of tables through cross-voting by BJP members. BJP ally HD Kumaraswamy’s Janata Dal (Secular) had fielded the fifth candidate, Kupendra Reddy.
The rebellion could not have come at a worse time for the Opposition bloc INDIA, which is struggling to project a united front in face of BJP allegations of irreconcilable differences. The Samajwadi Party and the Congress sealed a seat-sharing deal last week, desperate to get the campaign on track in the weeks left before the summer election.
Of the 56 Rajya Sabha seats, 41 were filled unopposed earlier this month. The list of new MPs included the former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, the BJP national president JP Nadda, and union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan, as well as ex-Congressman Ashok Chavan, now with the BJP.
In Shimla, Mr Sukhu alleged that leaders of the opposition threatening the counting officials in the state. Congress MLA Sudarshan Babloo who represents Chintpurni assembly constituency in Himachal Pradesh was taken to a hospital in Hoshiarpur in Punjab following a sudden health problem. He was brought in a helicopter and was last to cast his vote.
Alleging violation of election code, leader of the opposition and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur said Mr Babloo was brought in the chief minister’s helicopter for voting and current CM Sukhvinder Sukhu went to receive him and brought him in official car for casting his vote in violation of the model code of conduct. He demanded that his vote should not be counted till the Election Commission take a decision on their complaint.
The Chief Minister in turn alleged that about half-a-dozen of the Congress MLAs have been kidnapped and they have got the visuals. He added that people of the country and Himachal Pradesh will never accept “the murder of democracy.” Accusing the BJP of threatening the counting officers, Mr Sukhu said five-six MLAs have been taken away by the CRPF and Haryana Police convoy. “The MLAs who have gone, their family members are trying to get in touch with them. They [MLAs] should get in touch and there’s nothing to fear. The way the Opposition is behaving, the people of Himachal will never accept it,” he said talking to journalist in Shimla. He claimed that the Congress still have the full majority.
At Bengaluru, the Leader of Opposition R Ashok said the BJP would file a complaint against S T Somashekar and Shivaram Hebbar for violating party whip. He said he would also write to BJP high command demanding action against the two legislators.
An FIR has been registered against the JD(S) leader D. Kupendra Reddy and his aides at the Vidhana Soudha police station in Bengaluru. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah confirmed of the FIR against Reddy for “threatening” the Congress MLAs in connection with the Rajya Sabha elections. “The Congress leaders not only spoke about allurement and threat to their MLAs time and again but also registered an FIR against Kupendra Reddy and his aides,” the former chief minister H. D. Kumaraswamy said.
In Lucknow, the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav condemning the cross-voting by some of his party MLAs said those looking to profit from the situation would leave, clearly hinting at allurement offered by the ruling BJP. Speaking to reporters at the Assembly before casting his vote, Mr Yadav alleged that the BJP would resort to any means to win elections. Action will be taken against such MLAs, he asserted.
