Rajya Sabha Election 2024: Marred with the reports of cross-voting by MLAs across the party line, the Rajya Sabha elections concluded on 15 seats across three states namely, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday. Filled with high-voltage political drama, the day was certainly owned by the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party which claimed 10 out of 15 seats across the states. Apart from a minor jolt in Karnataka, the saffron party clinched more than what experts were expecting. Owing to its organisational hiccups, the Congress party lost an otherwise secured Himachal Pradesh seat, however, won 3 Karnataka seats which was almost certain, given the numbers.
The day also proved to be an eye-opener for the Akhilesh Yadav-led-Samajawadi Party which saw its 8 legislators cross-voting in favor of NDA candidates. Rubbing salt on the wounds of the party, the MLAs were seen in bonhomie with the Deputy Chief Minister of the state - Brajesh Pathak.
Here is a state-wise tally of the Rajya Sabha Election 2024 results
1. Uttar Pradesh
Bharatiya Janta Party candidates won 8 of the 10 Rajya Sabha seats in the state. The Samajwadi Party has won 2 seats whereas it lost a seat to the ruling party even after having the numbers till yesterday. The supporters of the saffron camp were seen celebrating in Lucknow at the astounding win of the party.
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The election witnessed a tense atmosphere throughout the day after as many as eight SP MLAs including Manoj Kumar Pandey, Rakesh Pandey, Rakesh Pratap Singh, Abhay Singh, Vinod Chaturvedi, Maharani Prajapati, and Pooja Pal voted for the ruling party candidates, citing 'Antaratman ki Aawaz' (voice of conscience) as the reason behind the switch.
2. Himachal Pradesh
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Harsh Mahajan won the lone Himachal Pradesh Rajya Sabha seat by defeating Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Tuesday. The interesting outcome followed a draw between the two candidates after six, including three, Congress MLAs cross-voted in the high-voltage poll.
3. Karnataka
Three Congress candidates for the upper house won the Rajya Sabha polls from Karnataka, whereas, BJP clenched one seat out of the total four RS seats. The state also witnessed an interesting turn of events with two BJP MLAs making an 'unexpected' switch to the ruling Congress in the state.
Interestingly, 41 out of the 56 candidates have secured positions in the Upper House without opposition, resulting from a lack of competing candidates. The polling for the remaining seats — 10 in Uttar Pradesh, 4 in Karnataka, and 1 in Himachal Pradesh — took place on Tuesday, February 27. The voting period was scheduled from 9 am to 4 pm, followed by the vote count on the same day starting from 5 pm onwards.