Jharkhand Rajya Sabha polls end with all 81 MLAs voting, focus on second seat
Voting for the election to two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand ended on Thursday, with all 81 MLAs casting their votes at the polling station
Voting for the election to two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand ended on Thursday, with all 81 MLAs casting their votes at the polling station set up on the assembly premises. Counting is scheduled to begin at 5 pm, when the fate of the three candidates in the fray will become clear, an official said. The contest is between BJP-backed Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani, JMM nominee Baidyanath Ram and Congress candidate Pranav Jha. Polling began at 9 am amid fears of cross-voting and continued till about 3 pm, with security arrangements in place throughout the day. Read Full Story Among those who voted were Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi, BJP chief whip Naveen Jaiswal, Congress Legislature Party leader Pradeep Yadav and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Radhakrishna Kishore. An Assembly official said, "All arrangements, including adequate security, were in place to hold the polling peacefully," and added that counting of votes will begin at 5 pm.
JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram expressed confidence after voting and said, "India bloc candidates will win both the Rajya Sabha seats." state Congress president Rajesh Thakur also said there was no doubt that the INDIA bloc would win the elections. RJD legislator Suresh Paswan said there was no doubt that the INDIA bloc candidates would secure victory, while Congress minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey said they had adequate numbers and were confident of winning both seats. On the other side, Jaiswal, who was the first to vote, said, "Twenty-one party legislators and one each from AJSU party, JD(U) and LJP (RV) cast their votes in favour of NDA-supported candidate Parimal Nathwani." Nathwani also sounded confident and said, "I have support from all parties, and I am assured of my victory. Everything will be clear by the evening." JD(U) leader Saryu Rai said his vote went to the NDA-backed nominee.
Asked if he was sure of Nathwani's win, Rai said, "This is not my subject. I know about my vote, which goes to him." The BJP-led NDA has 24 MLAs in the 81-member assembly, four short of the minimum 28 first-preference votes needed to win a seat in the Upper House. Its strength includes 21 BJP MLAs and one each from the LJP (Ram Vilas), AJSU Party and JD(U), while the Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha has one MLA. The ruling INDIA bloc has 56 members in the House, including 34 from the JMM, 16 from the Congress, four from the RJD and two from CPI(ML) Liberation. Given these numbers, JMM's Baidyanath Ram is expected to win comfortably, and the main focus is on the second seat, where a close contest is likely between Congress candidate Jha and NDA-backed Nathwani.
The BriefWire