Polling is underway for six Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra at the Vidhan Bhavan, the State Legislature Complex in Mumbai.
There a close contest is being played out between the state’s Ruling Shivsena and Opposition Bhartiya Janata Party for the sixth seat. Two hundred thirty eight Members of Legisleture Assembly cast their votes till 12.25 p.m.
In Karnataka, most of the MLAs from BJP, Congress and JD(S) cast their votes during the Rajya Sabha Biennial Election in Bengaluru when the reports last came in. There are six candidates in fray for the four seats of Rajya Sabha in the state. BJP has fielded Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, film star turned politician Jaggesh and the outgoing Member of Legislative Council Lahar Singh Siroya. Congress has fielded former Minister Jairam Ramesh as their first candidate and Mansoor Ali Khan as their second candidate. The JD(S) has fielded Kupendra Reddy as its candidate. Each candidate needs around 45 votes to be elected to Rajya Sabha.
The ruling BJP can easily elect two of its candidates with a strength of 120 MLAs, Congress can elect one of its candidates with a strength of 69 MLAs. JD(S) with 32 MLAs do not have sufficient numbers to elect its candidate. Hence, there is a contest for the fourth seat with the second preferential votes playing a crucial role to decide the fate of the fourth seat.
In Rajasthan, polling is underway at State Assembly House for the four Rajya Sabha seats in the state. It will continue till 4 P.M. while counting of votes will be taken up at 5 p.m.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, former Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje and many other members have exercised their franchise. Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari are the Congress candidates for these elections. BJP has fielded Ghanshyam Tiwari as its candidate. Media group owner Subhash Chandra is trying his fate as an independent candidate with the support of the BJP.
In Haryana, polling for the two Rajya Sabha seats is underway. The polling will continue till 4 P.M. So far, 89 MLAs have exercised their franchise. The independent MLA from Meham Balraj Singh Kundu has decided not to vote. He said that he has taken this decision in the interest of the state. Two votes of Congress MLAs have been cancelled. There are three candidates in fray for these two seats from Haryana. The BJP has fielded Krishan Panwar and extended support to independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma who also has the backing of the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), an ally of the BJP. Ajay Maken is the Congress nominee for the Rajya Sabha elections from Haryana.