Polling Underway For 15 Rajya Sabha Seats In 3 States Amid Cross-Voting Fears

New Delhi: Election to 15 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh are being held on Tuesday amid concern about cross-voting by Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAs.

In Uttar Pradesh, the contest is over one seat with BJP having fielded eight candidates and the Opposition SP three for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats. The BJP and the SP have the numbers to send seven and three members respectively unopposed to the Rajya Sabha.

Before heading to vote, SP MLA Manoj Pandey resigned from the post of party’s chief whip. He was among 8 SP MLAs who had skipped the dinner hosted by party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday.

Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal has also confirmed that the party’s nine MLAs will vote for the eight candidates of the BJP.

In Karnataka, the ruling Congress on Monday shifted its MLAs to a private hotel ahead of the biennial election to fill four vacancies from the state. State party chief and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has denied any possibility of cross-voting by the party MLAs.

On the other hand, it is prestige battle for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in Himachal Pradesh, where the BJP has fielded Harsh Mahajan against Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi for the single seat from the state. So far, 64 of 68 legislators have cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections in Himachal Pradesh.

While the polling will continue till 4 pm and counting will be held from 5 pm onwards.

Forty-one of the 56 Rajya Sabha candidates have already been elected unopposed.