CHANDIGARH/LUCKNOW: ‘Sukhu’ was not a word the Congress would have wanted to associate itself with on Tuesday amid cross-voting in three states the Rajya Sabha elections; the more appropriate term was ‘Dukhu’.
If the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government failed to keep its flock together for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, giving the BJP an stunning victory, the Samajwadi Party suffered a blow in Uttar Pradesh as the saffron party snatched a seat from under its nose, winning eight in all. The situation reversed in Karnataka as one BJP MLA cross-voted and another abstained from voting.
Himachal Pradesh saw the BJP’s Harsh Mahajan registering an upset victory over Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The Sukhu government is now on the edge as the state budget has to be passed on Thursday. If the government fails to do so, it will lose legitimacy.
Though the BJP has only 25 seats in the 68-member Himachal assembly, Mahajan polled 34 votes to tie with Singhvi’s score. The victor was decided by a draw of lots. Six Congress lawmakers and three Independents voted in favour of Mahajan.
In UP, the contest was for the eighth seat as the BJP and the SP had pocketed seven and two, respectively. Seven of the SP lawmakers cross-voted for the BJP’s eighth candidate Sanjay Seth, who is an SP import. Besides, one SP MLA abstained.
In Karnataka, five were contested for four seats. Ajay Maken, G C Chandrasekhar, Syed Naseer Hussain (all Congress) and BJP’s Narayansa K Bhandage won.
Draw of lots part rules
Harsh Mahajan (BJP) defeated Abhishek Manu Singhvi (Congress) by a draw of lots, which was a tie-breaker. In the RS, the candidate whose slip is drawn loses the poll, while in the LS, the one whose slip is drawn, wins
Rebels Will be expelled
“We knew they would rebel when they skipped the dinner. There was a buzz about different packages. The rebels will be expelled,” Akhilesh said