The Rashtriya Lok Dal of Jayant Chaudhary and a few Samajwadi Party rebels assisted the BJP in securing an impressive additional seat in the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh today. The Samajwadi Party, which was hoping for three seats, lost two of the ten seats in the state that the party won. Following six Congress MLAs’ cross-votes, the BJP won the second bonus seat in Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh.
The BJP had pushed for an election in Uttar Pradesh by fielding an eighth candidate for the ten seats in the state. Seven seats would go to the BJP and three to the Samajwadi Party, according to the numbers. However, BJP leaders began whispering in private as early as yesterday that a number of MLAs from the Samajwadi Party would cross-vote today. The stated numbers ranged from seven to ten.
By late evening, it was clear what was going to happen: eight MLAs had refused to attend a meeting that party leader Akhilesh Yadav had called. The chief whip of the party resigned this morning, ahead of elections. There was a great deal of tension and drama during today’s actual voting since seven Samajwadi Party members cast cross-party votes. One SP MLA’s vote was declared void. Following the vote, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was met by five MPs from the Samajwadi Party.
Former Union Minister RPN Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, Amarpal Maurya, Sangeeta Balwant, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former MLA Sadhna Singh, Naveen Jain, and Sanjay Seth are the eight BJP candidates who emerged victorious. The winners were Jaya Bachchan and Ramji Lal Suman of the Samajwadi Party. The Samajwadi Party’s third candidate, Alok Ranjan, was defeated by the BJP.
“We had been saying from the beginning that all 8 candidates of the BJP will win,” said Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Pradhan Maurya.
“I congratulate all the winning candidates. Two SP candidates have also won. So, congratulations to Akhilesh Yadav too. BJP’s vijay yatra that began in Rajya Sabha will continue in Lok Sabha and then go on till Vidhan Sabha elections and even further,” he was quoted as saying.
MLAs who cross-voted will face disciplinary action, according to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
“Not everybody has the guts to stand against the government. Pressure is put on everybody, is there anyone who doesn’t know that BJP would go to any extent to win?” he told reporters.
“The BJP was dishonest during the Chandigarh elections also… When it comes to UP, BJP did everything to get votes and those who left, might not have had the guts to stand against the government,” he added.
The unexpected loss dealt a blow to the opposition bloc INDIA, which sought two additional Upper House seats in this election cycle. The NDA is slowly gaining a majority in the 245-member Rajya Sabha, which is important for approving or rejecting legislation.
