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Rajya Sabha polls Highlights: In Maharashtra, BJP and MVA win three seats each
Voting was held on 16 Rajya Sabha seats across four states- Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka on Friday.
Rajya Sabha Election 2022 Live Updates: Voting was held on 16 Rajya Sabha seats across four states- Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka on Friday. In Rajasthan, the Congress won three Rajya Sabha seats while the BJP could only win one. In Karnataka, the BJP won all the three seats it contested in while the Congress managed to win only one of the two seats to which it had fielded its candidates....Read More
Counting was on hold in Haryana and Maharashtra and Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Friday that a BJP delegation met the Election Commission and asked that the elections in these two states should be declared null and void.
However, counting began in Haryana early Saturday after the EC rejected the BJP's complaint seeking cancellation of votes of 2 Congress MLAs in the state.
The BJP's Krishan Lal Panwar and Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma, backed by the saffron party , have won the two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana.
In Maharashtra, where counting started too for the six seats, the BJP and the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won three each.
Follow all LIVE updates here:
Can anyone see the ballot MLAs are casting?
Yes. Unlike the popular voting process, the MLAs voting for Rajya Sabha candidates has to show their ballots to an authorised agent of their party. This process has been allowed to prevent cross-voting and corruption. But if the candidate shows her or his ballot to any other person apart from the authorised agent, the ballot would again be deemed as invalid. In 2016, two votes of Congress leaders were deemed invalid on this ground in Haryana. Read More
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai casts his vote in Rajya Sabha elections
How voting is done for Rajya Sabha
All elected MLAs cast their votes through a ballot paper, instead of a EVM in a state. The voting is done in the assembly house of the respective state. In the ballot paper a MLA has to mark his or her choice of candidates by ranking them. They have to use a special pen provided by the Election Commission.
If they use any other pen, or if their ballot papers remain incomplete, the vote would be regarded as invalid.
Leaders from all parties cast their votes
In the first hour of the voting, leaders including, BS Yediyurappa, HD Revanna, BJP national general secretary & legislator from Chikmagaluru CT Ravi; Araga Jnanendra, Congress' Ashok Gehlot, Govind Singh have casted their votes.
JD(S) leaders leave hotel to cast their vote
Janata Dal (Secular) leaders to came to Vidhana Soudha by bus to cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections. They were being kept at a hotel by the party in fears of being poached.
Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut exudes confidence in Maharashtra
"An atmosphere that the election would be a close contest is being created, however, the all four candidates of the MVA will win after the first round of elections," said Sanjay Raut, Sena chief spokesperson and one of the four candidates of MVA. He further added, "The Uddhav Thackeray government has the support of 169 legislators. In today's election, BJP should not be shocked if we get more [than 169]."
‘Forced and unnecessary': Ashok Gehlot on Rajya Sabha elections
These elections are forced and unnecessary, said Rajasthan chief minister and Congress leader Ashok Gehlot before casting his vote in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Candidates in fray in Haryana
In Haryana’s 90-member assembly, former minister Krishan Lal Panwar has been fielded by the BJP, while Ajay Maken, a former union minister, is the Congress candidate. Media executive Kartikeya Sharma, an independent candidate, is being backed by the ruling alliance. The BJP has 40 MLAs in the state assembly and the Congress has 31. BJP ally Jannayak Janata Party has 10 MLAs while the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Lokhit Party have one each. Seven lawmakers are independents. Read More
AIMIM backs MVA Rajya Sabha candidates in Maharashtra: ‘Laid certain conditions’
All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has decided to vote for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the party's state unit president Imtiaz Jaleel said on Friday morning. Read More
Key faces of the Rajya Sabha elections
Some prominent leaders, whose fates will be decided today, include Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala and Mukul Wasnik.
Maharashtra to see voting on highest number of seats in Rajya Sabha Elections
Maharashtra will see the contest on the highest number of seats on Friday with six seats going to polls. Hours before the polls, separate meetings were held by the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, as well as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Read More