Rajya sabha polls 2018 sp, bsp mlas vote for bjp mayawati tense updates

Rajya Sabha polls 2018: SP, BSP MLAs vote for BJP; Mayawati tense; updates

Rajya Sabha polls 2018: SP, BSP MLAs vote for BJP; Mayawati tense; updates on Business Standard. For Rajya Sabha election results 2018, voting begins in UP, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. FM Arun Jaitley is also for UP Rajya Sabha seats. Find latest news on Rajya Sabha polls 2018.

Latest News Voting for the Rajya Sabha elections 2018 in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana, commenced on Friday.

In a setback for Mayawati, BSP MLA Anil Singh said that he voted for the BJP. With the drubbing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received recently in the state bypolls for the Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats, there is only one question hanging in the air: Can the BJP snatch a ninth seat or will the newfound bonhomie between former arch-rivals Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party prevail?

In UP, the SP and the Congress are backing Mayawati's candidate. The SP is keen to ensure a clean vote transfer because that could ease the way to an alliance with the BSP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against the Narendra Modi-BJP electoral juggernaut. In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee is said to be supporting the Congress' candidate.

However, in a jolt to the Bahujan Samaj Party, which is counting each vote to get its lone candidate Bhim Rao Ambedkar elected to the Upper House of Parliament, its legislator Anil Singh on Friday voted for BJP candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls currently underway in Uttar Pradesh.

The Rajya Sabha will have 58 vacancies in April.

For the 58 Rajya Sabha seats to be filled, 33 candidates from 10 states have been elected

unanimously. Meanwhile, voting for the remaining 25 seats is being held today in six states of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Telangana.

In Uttar Pradesh, both the ruling BJP and the Opposition have had their share of anxious moments because the BJP's decision to field an extra candidate has transformed the routine election into a prestige contest. The BJP is eyeing independents and some disgruntled elements in the SP and BSP who might be persuaded to cross-vote.

In all, there are 11 candidates, including Jaitley, in the fray for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh for which polling is taking place today. The BJP has filed 18 candidates for the biennial polls.

Counting of votes will begin on Friday from 5 pm onwards. The results of the Rajya Sabha polls 2018 are expected to be announced the same evening.

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