Voting underway in 37 seats across 10 states; TMC stages walk out| India News

As the voting is underway in Rajya Sabha to fill spots in 37 seats across 10 states, Bihar JDU President Umesh Singh Kushwaha said that NDA is waiting to formally announce victory. “NDA only has to formally declare victory. 101% our victory is certain. No matter what tactics the opposition resorts to, voting is happening in favour of the NDA. All five seats will be in favour of the NDA,” he said.

He added, “Detaining legislators is an insult to democracy. Some legislators have been freed and are not in captivity, so we salute their courage.”

Polling is taking place on 4 Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha. Not to forget, quite a drama took place before the polls, particularly in Odisha seats as BJD and Congress accused BJP of engaging in ‘horse trading’.

Two candidates of the BJP are its state unit president Manmohan Samal, and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar. Former Union minister Dilip Ray is also contesting as an Independent and has the support of the saffron party.

The BJD nominees are party leader Santrupt Misra and eminent urologist Dr Datteswar Hota, whom the Congress and the CPI(M) are supporting.

Trinamool Congress walked out of Rajya Sabha, on the day of voting to fill 37 seats across 10 states in the upper house. This act was in protest to the decision taken by Election Commission to remove the chief secretary Nandini Chakravorty, just hours after state election dates were announced.

Bihar minister Mohammad Zama Khan believes the JDU-BJP alliance will win the Rajya Sabha elections. He said, “I want to thank all the people of Bihar for their blessings, due to which we are going to win the Rajya Sabha elections.”

He added, “Many people are with us who like development, who like the way our government works. I will definitely say that many companions are in touch with us because they want development.”

Singer and BJP MLA Maithili Thakur reached the parliament to cast her vote.

Meanwhile, JDU national working President Sanjay Kumar Jha said that all NDA candidates from Bihar will secure victory in the upper house elections.

“NDA will win all five seats with a big margin. Four seats are confirmed. We will also win the fifth seat,” he said. Bihar minister Mangal Pandey also said the same while taking a jibe over reports of RJD moving their MLAs to a hotel to prevent any cross-voting.

Anil Vij, minister in Haryana government, turned up to cast his vote despite fractures in both of his leg. He said that he was confident BJP will win both of the seats they are contesting for in Rajya Sabha from Haryana.

So far, a total of 176 MLAs from the NDA have cast their votes. At he same time, 37 MLAs from the Opposition alliance, the Mahagathbandhan, have voted. Only 24 MLAs from RJD have turned up to cast their votes so far.

Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini reacted to the reports that Congress moved several of its MLAs from Haryana to Himachal Pradesh to avoid cross-voting. Saini said, “I came to know from you that they have gone to Himachal. I do not have any information about it. Every party works in its own way… Every individual claims victory in their own way. Anyone can make such claims. The real picture becomes clear only when the results come.”

Bihar BJP president Sanjay Saraogi said that he is confident of all NDA candidates clinching the Rajya Sabha polls in the state.

“All five seats are going to go to the account of Bihar’s NDA. When we are about to leave after the counting of votes, all five of our leaders will leave as Rajya Sabha members; there is no doubt about this,” he said.

Targetting the opposition, Saraogi said that They (RJD) do not have trust in their MLAs. “Only the people of the Mahagathbandhan can tell why they have kept their MLAs tied up,” he added.

RJD President Tejashwi Yadav is very sure that his party has enough support to clinch a Rajya Sabha seat.

RJD needs support of 41 MLAs to send its candidate, AD Singh, to the Rajya Sabha. But the party and its alliance only have 35 MLAs in the Assembly. However, Tejashwi said that AIMIM and BSP, which have six seats and one seat respectively, have extended their support for the RJD candidates.

“We are confident. Earlier, the strength of Mahagathbandha was 35. To win, 41 is needed. BJP-NDA needed 3. But we accepted this challenge and chose to fight the BJP, not to cower before them. Colleagues from AIMIM and BSP have supported the RJD candidate. So, the strength now is 41,” he said.

Voting is now taking place for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana with a candidate each from the BJP, Congress and an Independent in the fray.

From BJP, the name is Sanjay Bhatia, while Karamvir Singh Boudh is the nominee from Congress and Independent candidate Satish Nandal is also in the fray for the two seats. The BJP is backing Nandal for the second seat.

Nandal had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 assembly polls as a BJP nominee and is currently designated as one of the party’s state vice presidents.

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has accused the BJP of engaging in “horse-trading” ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections. His remarks came after Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar alleged that four individuals from Odisha attempted to bribe Congress MLAs in Karnataka, offering ₹5 crore each to cross-vote in the upcoming polls. Shivakumar described the alleged attempt as part of an “Operation Kamala”-style strategy.

In a post on X, Patnaik said reports from Bengaluru suggested that four individuals had been arrested for allegedly trying to hand over blank cheques to MLAs to influence votes in favour of BJP-backed Rajya Sabha candidates. He called the arrests “major proof” of his earlier allegations that the BJP was trying to lure MLAs from other parties in Odisha.

Rajya Sabha members are elected by MLAs of state assemblies through the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote, conducted through an open ballot.

If all seats are not filled through first-preference votes, the surplus votes of winning candidates are transferred to other candidates who fall short of the required number.

If that still does not help a candidate reach the required 41-vote mark, second-preference votes come into play.

The NDA is aiming to making a a clean sweep of sorts in all five seats with three big names — Nitish Kumar (JDU), Nitin Nabin (BJP) and Upendra Kushwaha (RLM) — in the contention. The other two NDA candidates are minister Ram Nath Thakur of the JDU, who is looking to for a hat-trick and BJP state general secretary Shivesh Kumar.

“All NDA leaders are confident about all five seats. The unease is in the opposition camp, and they are in a huddle. That shows which side is not sure of the outcome,” JD(U) minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said.

The first two states for which the voting began are Bihar and Odisha. In Bihar, chief minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar and BJP national president Nitin Nabin are among the NDA candidates.

The voting for the RS polls is being held in Odisha after a gap of 12 years, as this time, five candidates are in the fray for the four seats which will fall vacant on April 2.