Rajya Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh went down to the wire, with heavy cross-voting by Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress MLAs respectively, and the BJP walking away with two extra seats than its Assembly strength permitted. The BJP’s victory has already imperilled the Congress government in Himachal, with Leader of the Opposition Jairam Thakur scheduled to meet with Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla on Wednesday.
In Himachal Pradesh, BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan won the election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat in the fray from the State defeating Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi on the basis of a draw of lots, following a tie on votes.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP won eight seats out of 10, one more than it was expected to win, with Sanjay Seth of the saffron party pipping former bureaucrat Alok Ranjan of the SP. Second preference votes are still being counted. In all, seven SP MLAs are said to have cross-voted in favour of the BJP candidate in Uttar Pradesh.
