Voting in the crucial Rajya Sabha elections that the country is looking forward to is progressing. Although 57 seats are vacant, unpredictable battles are taking place in four of the four states. The BJP has demanded the annulment of the JDS MLA’s vote in Karnataka. In Haryana, rebel leader Kuldeep Bishnoi’s absence from the polls has raised concerns in the Congress camp. In Maharashtra and Rajasthan, both sides are hoping for complete victory.
Out of the 57 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha, candidates from various parties were elected unopposed to 41 seats. Voting is taking place in 16 seats. Of these, Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka are battling for seats each. MLAs who had been shifted to resorts for fear of sacking were brought to the polls in the morning. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan, Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Haryana and Siddaramaiah in Karnataka are directly spearheading the coup. In Maharashtra, Mahavikas Agadi can win 3 of the 6 seats and the BJP 2 seats. The unpredictable rivalry is between BJP’s Dhananjay Mahadhi and Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Pawar. Azaduddin Owaisi’s AIADMK has announced its support for the Congress. In Haryana, Ajay Maken could lose if all the Congress MLAs do not vote. The BJP has fielded Karthikeyan Sharma from the media to capitalize on divisions within the Congress. In Rajasthan, Pramod Tiwari of the Congress and Subhash Chandra, a BJP-backed independent, are in a tussle. In Karnataka, the BJP reckons that the Congress can take advantage of the JDS split to win. In Karnataka, the BJP has demanded that the vote be annulled as JDS leaders were shown ballot papers to Congress leaders after they registered to vote.