It’s not every day that your attention is diverted towards a Rajya Sabha election. But in the Modi era, anything under the sun is possible. The recent election for 59 seats in the Rajya Sabha not only managed to become the talk of the town, but was also seen as a battle of prestige for the incumbent party, BJP, who had to bite dust in the recent by-polls. Drama, action, comedy, tragedy, you name it- this election displayed every possible emotion.
However, by the time the votes were counted, the opposition, basking in the ‘glory’ of winning the UP by-polls and preparing to create the sequel of the famed ‘Mahagatbandhan’, was in for a rude shock. Not only did BJP win most of the Rajya Sabha seats they contested, they also clipped the wings of the fledgling alliance between erstwhile rivals BSP and SP before it could even takeoff. As of now, out of the 26 seats contested, BJP has managed to strike a win in more than 16 seats, a sweet revenge for losing their erstwhile strongholds.
Let us look at some numbers and figures. Of the 59 Rajya Sabha seats, candidates were elected unopposed on 33. In those 33 seats, BJP almost touched the halfway mark, winning an impressive 16 seats, and leaving the rest for the opposition.
However, given the mentality of the Indian media which is never hesitant to create mountains of molehills, the real acid test was on the remaining 26 seats. Here are some of the states which participated in these elections:
- Bihar – 6 seats
- Chhattisgarh – 1 seat
- Jharkhand – 2 seat
- Karnataka – 4 seats
- Kerala – 1 seat
- Odisha – 3 seats
- Rajasthan – 3 seats
- Telangana – 3 seats
- Uttar Pradesh – 3 seats
- West Bengal – 5 seats
In these states, it was in West Bengal, Telangana and Kerala that BJP did not field a single candidate. In the others, it went out all guns blazing, especially in Uttar Pradesh where the battle is now one of prestige. Both chief minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP chief Amit Shah’s political acumens were at stake here. They fought these election with a ‘never say never’ attitude, and the opposition still doesn’t know what hit them.
In Bihar, JDU and RJD were locked in a tie with 2 Rajya Sabha seats each, while the BJP managed to scrape one seat, giving an edge to the NDA alliance. In Karnataka, the Congress managed to salvage its pride as it won 3 of 4 Rajya Sabha seats, the other going to BJP’s candidate and eminent personality Rajeev Chandrashekhar. The only state where the BJP had to suffer a significant loss was Odisha, where it lost all 3 Rajya Sabha seats to the ruling party, Biju Janata Dal. This only proves one thing: Odisha will not be a cakewalk in 2019.
However, given the current state of turmoil in the political arena, and their supposedly receding profile in states like MP, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, the BJP managed to surprise one and all with their handsome victories in all the three states. In Chattisgarh, BJP candidate Saroj Pandey wrested the only seat on offer from Congress’ M. Sahu by 15 votes. In Rajasthan, BJP pulled off a clean sweep on all the 3 Rajya Sabha seats. In Madhya Pradesh as well, BJP won 4 out of 5 Rajya Sabha seats on offer. These victories will boost the party’s morale as well as their preparations in the run-up to the upcoming legislative assembly elections in these states, likely to held at the end of the year.
But the centre of attraction was once again the elections for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh, where BJP had fielded nine candidates. On 8 Rajya Sabha seats, BJP looked set for a comfortable win, but on the ninth and the tenth seat, they were in competition against the new found ‘social engineering’ of a BSP – SP alliance. But if I’ve learnt one thing from politics, it is ‘to expect the unexpected. The unexpected happened, as cross voting took in favor of the ninth BJP candidate.
One BSP MLA, Anil Kumar Singh, even went to the extent of boldly declaring that he voted in favor of BJP. He said, ‘I’m with Maharaj ji (Yogi Adityanath).’ Needless to say, such votes were declared invalid and the counting was paused for a while by the Election Commission. But who can stop the inevitable? BJP also won the ninth seat on offer, leaving both SP and BSP fuming and at their wits’ end. Call it what you want, but this time, Yogi had the last laugh. All SP could manage was a solitary seat, that too without the support of BSP. With this loss, the parliamentary innings of Mayawati is officially over for the time being.
All in all, this Rajya Sabha election has given BJP a much needed tonic, increasing their tally to 87 Rajya Sabha seats. Though they’re far from the majority, this tally can work wonders, especially when the election season comes up in the summer. Nobody knows this better than Amit Shah. If winter is coming in GOT, summer is coming for the BJP, and Karnataka is the first target. The clock is ticking.