Rajya Sabha Election: Polls underway in 4 states, Check out latest updates

Rajya Sabha Polls kick start on Friday; stakes are running high across the four states.

Rajya Sabha election is underway and the competition seems to grow tougher by the minute. A week earlier 41 candidates were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from 11 states and rest 16 seats are to be filled by candidates of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, and Karnataka. The competition is also between two union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman from Karnataka and Piyush Goyal from Maharashtra.  

The entire election process has kept all the contesting parties on the edge of their seats. The election of 57 new MPs to the Rajya Sabha has perhaps changed the dynamic of the upper house. The Election Commissioner on Friday had mentioned that he has hired special observers and videographers to make a note of the entire process on tape. “We have appointed special observers in all the four places (states). The entire process will be video graphed.” 

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Out of the 57 candidates who got elected to the Rajya Sabha, 23 belong to BJP and 8 seats had gone to the Congress Party. The problem with the whole process is not in the states ruled by the BJP government but the problem arises in the states ruled by the opposition and reports suggest that all eyes are currently on Rajasthan and Maharashtra, both of them ruled by opposition parties. 

Rajya Sabha Election polls underway

Maharashtra has the second-highest number of seats at the moment with six seats up for polls on Friday. Hours before the election, separate meetings were held by the Shiv Sena, National Congress Party(NCP), Congress and BJP. In the most recent update, the Bombay High Court has declined Nawab Malik’s amended petition to be allowed to cast his vote for the Rajya Sabha vote in the polls. 

The seven candidates in the state. Which is holding its first election in almost two decades, are Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde, Dhananjay Mahadik (BJP), Praful Patel (NCP), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena), Sanjay Pawar (Shiv Sena), and Imran Pratapgarhi (Congress). 

Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM had decided that his party would vote for Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra. “To defeat BJP, our party @aimim_national has decided to vote for Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra. Our political/ideological differences however will continue with @ShivSena which is a partner in MVA along with @INCIndia and @Maha_speaks_ncp. (sic)”. Party leader Imran Jaleel had tweeted. 

Rajya Sabha Polls underway in 4 states

Haryana is also set for the Rajya Sabha election. Krishan Lal Panwar has been selected and has been set as a candidate on the behalf of BJP. Ajay Maken has been put forward by the Congress party. In this race, an independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma is also being backed by the ruling party alliance. 

Tensions are running at an all-time high in Rajasthan. As well as criticism has been levelled against the ruling party by the BJP State President Satish Poonia. Moreover, as he had questioned the internet shut down in Amber ahead of Rajya Sabha polls on Friday. The state goes into the polls for four seats in the Rajya Sabha. 

Karnataka is also set to go for polls in four seats of the Rajya Sabha. Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Jaggesh, and Karnataka MLC Lahar Singh Siroya are the BJP’s nominees for this election.