Rajasthan Rajya Sabha Polls : Shot In The Arm for Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot; Congress Wins Three Out Of Four Seats, ; Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik, Pramod Tiwari Win

Picture : Twitter / ANI

In what is seen as shot in the arm for Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot , Congress won three of the four seats and the BJP one in the desert state.

BJP-backed Independent nominee and media baron Subhash Chandra, whose entry into the fray had added spice to the electoral tussle, fell by the wayside.

Chandra, who had won the last RS election as an Independent from Haryana, tried his luck from Rajasthan.

Congress candidates Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari were declared elected, and so was BJP’s Ghanshyam Tiwari.

In an interesting development, BJP MLA Shobharani Kushwah cross-voted in favour of Congress candidate Pramod Tiwari. The BJP promptly suspended her from the party’s primary membership.

“When everybody knows that 126 MLAs are with us, why did they (BJP) field an independent candidate? They wanted to attempt horse-trading but that did not happen,” a jubilant Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot told reporters at the assembly complex in Jaipur.

The victory of the Congress candidates has sent out a strong message in the country, he said, asserting the party will retain power in the Assembly elections next year.

The Congress, with 108 MLAs in the 200-member assembly, needed 123 votes to win the three seats. The Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) with two MLAs had extended support to it.

The ruling party also had the claimed support of 13 Independents and one Rashtriya Lok Dal MLA, who is a state minister.

On the other hand, the BJP had 71 MLAs. After the victory of its party candidate, who secured 43 votes, the BJP had 28 surplus votes to help Chandra’s bid.

Three MLAs of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) too had extended support to Chandra, but he still couldn’t manage the additional votes required for a victory.