Rajya Sabha election results: Congress wins 2 seats, BJP bags one in Rajasthan

In the Rajya Sabha polls held on Friday, the ruling Congress party in Rajasthan won two Rajya Sabha seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won one seat with no cross-voting taking place in the state.

Amid reports of horse-trading, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had accused the BJP of offering huge bribes to MLAs to vote in their favour. However, the elections result proved Congress’s hold over its party MLAs and also independents and others MLAs in the sate.

While Congress candidate KC Venugopal got 64 votes and 59 voted for his party colleague Neeraj Dangi. In a House of 200, the Congress has 107 MLAs and is supported by 13 independents, two CPM MLAs, two Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) MLAs and one from Rashtriya Lok Dal.

Meanwhile, BJP candidate Rajendra Gehlot won with 54 votes and Onkar Singh Lakhawat lost with 20. One vote for Lakhawat was rejected. The BJP has 72 MLAs and the support of three Rashtriya Loktantrik Party members — enough to win just one seat.

Two MLAs could not vote because of poor health else Congress tally would be still higher.

Ashok Gehlot attributed the victory to Sonia Gandhi’s leadership and said his MLAs in Rajasthan are well aware of the treatment of defectors to BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

“We all know that Congress ensures respect to everyone who is in the party or supports us. So in Rajasthan, all MLAs with us remained firm to stand with us,” Ashok Gehlot said.

Congratulations to Congress national general secretary KC Venugopal ji and Neeraj Dangi ji for winning #RajyaSabhaElections from #Rajasthan. It is a victory of the ideology, policies and programmes of Congress Party under the leadership of CP Smt. #SoniaGandhi ji.

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) June 19, 2020

“My compliments to all MLAs from other parties and independents who voted for our candidates and who remained firm in supporting us despite several attempts by the BJP to lure them,” he said.

My compliments to all MLAs from other parties & independents, who voted for our candidates & who remained firm in supporting us despite several attempts by the BJP to lure them.

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) June 19, 2020

“We are happy that together we ensured that those forces, which plotted to disrupt the democratic process based on money power, get defeated,” he tweeted.

After being deferred in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, voting was held on Friday for 19 vacant Rajya Sabha seats in eight states. Results have come in for Madhya Pradesh (BJP 2, Congress 1), Rajasthan (Congress 2, BJP 1), Andhra Pradesh (YSRCP 4), Meghalaya (NPP 1), Mizoram (MNF 1), Jharkhand (JMM 1, BJP 1), Manipur (BJP 1), and Gujarat (BJP 3, Congress 1).

Of the 19 seats where polling was held on June 19 (Friday), four each were in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two in Jharkhand, and one each in Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya.

(With inputs from PTI)