In just nine days, the BJP on Friday avenged its humiliating defeat in Lok Sabha by-polls on two prestigious seats in Gorakhpur and Phulpur by wresting the crucial tenth Rajya Sabha seat from the joint opposition supported BSP candidate Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar.
Anil Agarwal, who was BJP’s ninth candidate, defeated BSP’s Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar after counting of second preferential votes. Dr Ambedkar got only 32 votes. The BJP and the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath finally succeeded in avenging by-poll defeats by wresting the tenth seat from BSP for supporting the SP in Gorakhpur and Phulpur.
Earlier, counting of votes for Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh was delayed for two hours. Counting started after clearance from the Election Commission. Samajwadi Party, and BSP had approached Election Commission to register their complaints against lawmakers who cross-voted. BSP, and SP have alleged that those who cross-voted did not disclose their ballots to the counting agents of the respective parties. Following this, the counting was put on hold for two hours in Uttar Pradesh, but now the counting has begun. According to reports, EC didn't find anything objectionable in the CCTV footage.
Voting for remaining 25 seats of Rajya Sabha took place on Friday in six states including Uttar Pradesh. Counting of ballots was scheduled to start at 5 pm, an hour after the end of voting.
Besides UP, polling for the remaining 25 seats took place in West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
BSP MLA Anil Singh indicated that he had cross-voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls, saying "I am with Maharaj-ji", referring to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Deputy leader of the BSP Legislature Party Uma Shankar Singh said he cannot be sure that Anil Singh had voted for the BSP candidate Bhimrao Ambedkar.
The Unnao MLA's vote could be crucial as it gives BJP the edge in getting a ninth Rajya Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh. It is already assured of eight seats on the basis of its strength in the Assembly.
Anil Singh said he had cast his vote and showed it to BSP agent Lalji Verma and the rest could be known from him.
"I have cast my vote after showing it to Lalji Verma and he will tell you the details...I am with Maharaj- ji (Adityanath)," he said after voting at the Tilak Hall in the Assembly complex.
BJP is expected to better its numbers in the Rajya Sabha but will still fall short of the majority in the 245-strong House.
Follow live updates