BJP made big gains in the Rajya Sabha elections, winning all nine (out of 10) seats it contested in Uttar Pradesh. UP CM Yogi Adityanath said, "BJP won nine out of nine seats it contested in UP. It is a major victory for the party in the state. I thank all MLAs of BJP and allies." The tenth seat was bagged by Jaya Bachchan of Samajwadi Party.
Overall, BJP won 28 of the 58 seats, as counting of votes went on till late on Friday night, touching a new high of 87 but it remains short of a majority in the crucial 245-member Upper House.
The Congress tally went up to 57, but the difference between the two principal parties of the country widened to 30 from four. Out of the 58 vacancies across 16 states, 33 candidates from 10 states had already been elected unanimously.
"Congratulations to all those elected to the Rajya Sabha from various states and best wishes for their Parliamentary career. I hope they effectively voice the aspirations of the states they will represent," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
Voting for the rest 25 seats took place in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana on Friday. Voting for bypoll to a Rajya Sabha seat from Kerala was also held on Friday.
The Rajya Sabha vacancies next month include 17 from BJP and 12 from Congress. Three nominated members – actress Rekha, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, and social worker Anu Aga – will retire in April. BJP had filed 18 candidates for the biennial polls.
In Uttar Pradesh, BJP's Arun Jaitley, Anil Jain, GVL Narasimha Rao, Vijay Pal Tomar, Kanta Kardam, Ashok Bajpai, Harnath Yadav, Sakaldeep Rajbhar and SP's Jaya Bachchan have won, ANI quoted BJP Polling agent JPS Rathore as saying.
The replacement of retiring Rajya Sabha members is also important because it is happening when Opposition parties are scrambling to band together for next year's general elections, following BJP's loss in three Lok Sabha by-elections on Wednesday.
BJP and its partners still faced difficulty, and sometimes embarrassment, in pushing their legislative agenda because the Opposition has the majority in the Rajya Sabha.
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