We will comfortably win all 3 seats: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot on Rajya Sabha polls

Polling for four Rajya Sabha seats began in the Rajasthan assembly at 9 am today, and the voting will continue till 4 pm. The counting will begin at 5 pm

JAIPUR: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday exuded confidence that his party – the Indian National Congress – will comfortably win the Rajya Sabha elections this year, and that it is the Bharatiya Janata Party who should “look after their house”.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot casts his vote during the Rajya Sabha elections on Friday. (HT Photo)

“We are winning comfortably and it’s the BJP who should look after their house. The way they fielded another candidate (Independent candidate Subhash Chandra) was not liked by even their party MLAs. There is a reaction to this across the state…unnecessary elections were conducted, or else three were with Congress and one with BJP. No one likes such acts. They had done the same thing during the last Rajya Sabha elections, and faced defeat,” Gehlot told media persons after casting his vote.

Polling for four Rajya Sabha seats began in the Rajasthan assembly at 9 am today, and the voting will continue till 4 pm. The counting will begin at 5 pm.

Gehlot reached the assembly a little before 9 am, followed by the buses carrying fellow Congress MLAs. The BJP MLAs too reached the assembly in two buses.

Meanwhile, the BJP also maintained its claim of winning both seats. “We are still maintaining our claim. A miracle will happen when the results are announced in the evening,” said Vasudev Devnani, BJP MLA and a former minister.

Bahujan Samaj Party-turned-Congress MLAs Rajendra Gudha, Sandeep Yadav, Wajib Ali also reached the assembly with the CM to cast their votes. “I was the second person to cast a vote after the chief minister,” Gudha told reporters.

Congress has fielded three candidates – Mukul Wasnik, Randeep Surjewala and Pramod Tiwari, while the BJP has chosen former minister Ghanshyam Tiwari as its official candidate, other than Chandra. Tiwari was a vocal detractor of former CM Vasundhara Raje of the BJP.

The number game indicates a smooth win for the Congress on the three seats, with 126 MLAs, which includes support from 13 Independents, CPM (2), Bharatiya Tribal Party (2), and RLD (1) in addition to their 108. The BJP has a cushion of 71 MLAs.

A Rajya Sabha candidate in Rajasthan needs 41 votes to win.

The nomination of media baron Subhash Chandra as an Independent candidate has made the contest interesting. He enjoys the support of 30 MLAs and three from the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), which makes it 33 votes, but still short by eight for a win.

In the house of 200, Congress has 108 MLAs, BJP has 71, 13 Independents, RLP has 3, while the CPI(M) and BTP have 2 each.