Elections to the Rajya Sabha will be held in 2022 on 16 Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, with parties fielding additional candidates or independent candidates. The results of the RS poll will be released on Friday evening.
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With 41 uncontested candidates elected, the Rajya Sabha elections have been reduced to 16 seats across Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, where voting began on Friday morning.
In the remaining seats, close contests are expected, and parties have been attempting to keep their flock together. As MPs have been secluded because of worries of poaching, five-star hotels and resorts have been in high demand once again. Both the BJP and the Congress have been in discussions with minor parties and independents to fill the remaining seats.
Rajasthan is governed by the Congress, whereas Maharashtra is governed by a Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combination led by Uddhav Thackeray.
Although the BJP now governs Karnataka, the political divide in the state remains as sharp as it was in May 2019, when the JDS-Congress alliance was removed from office.
The Election Commission announced the timeline for Presidential Elections 2022 on Thursday, raising the stakes in the RS elections. Voting will take place on July 18, and the results will be announced on July 21.
Here's a look at the 16 Rajya Sabha seats up for grabs, with results expected on Friday evening:
Seats in Rajasthan: 4
Mukul Wasnik, Pramod Tiwari, and Randeep Surjewala are the candidates for the Congress Party.
Ghanshyam Tiwari, BJP Candidate,
Subhash Chandra, an independent candidate endorsed by the BJP and the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party,
To win, you'll need 41 votes.
The ruling Congress has a clear win in two of the four seats, while the BJP has a clear win in one. The Congress needs 15 more votes to win the remaining seat, while the BJP needs 11 more votes.
Maharashtra has a total of 6 seats.
The BJP's candidates are Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde, and Dhananjay Mahadik.
Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar are Shiv Sena candidates.
Praful Patel is a candidate for the National Congress Party.
Imran Pratapgarhi is a Congress candidate.
To win, 42 votes are required.
Bottom line: coalition allies Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress can easily elect one candidate. Two candidates for the BJP are certain to be elected. Five of the six seats are taken. The BJP's Mahadik and the Shiv Sena's Pawar are vying for the final seat.
Seats: 4 KARNATAKA
The BJP's candidates are Nirmala Sitharaman, Jaggesh, and Lehar Singh Siroya.
Jairam Ramesh and Mansoor Ali Khan are two Congress candidates.
D. Kupendra Reddy is a JD (S) candidate.
To win, 45 votes are required.
The BJP has a chance to gain two seats in the Assembly, while the Congress has a chance to win one. In the race for the fourth seat, Siroya (BJP), Khan (Congress), and Reddy will face off directly (JD-S). Khan will require the support of 20 MLAs, while Siroya and Reddy would need the votes of 13 MLAs apiece.
Seats: 2 HARYANA
Krishan Lal Panwar (BJP Candidate)
Ajay Maken is a Congress candidate.
Kartikeya Sharma is an independent candidate sponsored by the BJP-JJP, Independents, and the Haryana Lokhit Party.
To win, you'll need 31 votes.
Panwar of the ruling BJP will easily win, while the race for the second seat is close between Maken and Sharma. Both parties require 30 votes to win, and while the Congress has 31 MLAs, Maken would face difficulties if cross-voting occurred.