Rajya Sabha polls: BJP avenges Lok Sabha by-poll defeat in UP, wins 12 seats, Congress 5

File photo of Parliament

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday registered a major victory when the party managed to get all its nine candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls elected from Uttar Pradesh. In all the elections held for 25 seats on Friday, BJP won 12, Congress managed five, Trinamool gained four, Telangana Rashtra Samiti three and the Samajwadi Party one. With wounds from losses in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha constituencies still fresh, BJP managed to secure a favourable result in UP on Friday with its candidate - Anil Agarwal - defeating a BSP nominee - Bhimrao Ambedkar - for the 10th seat in the Rajya Sabha biennial elections. The other BJP winners were Arun Jaitley, Ashok Bajpai, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, Sakal Deep Rajbhar, Kanta Kardam, Anil Jain, GVL Narasimha Rao and Harnath Singh Yadav. The votes of SP MLA Nitin Agarwal and Anil Singh of the BSP, who cross voted in favour of the BJP, were declared invalid. Samajwadi Party's Jaya Bachchan also managed to get the remaining seat from UP.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi later congratulated all those who won the Rajya Sabha elections and wished them a fruitful parliamentary career. "Congratulations to all those elected to the Rajya Sabha from various states and best wishes for their Parliamentary career," he tweeted. He hoped they effectively voice the aspirations of the states they will represent.

The voting for Rajya Sabha elections for 25 seats across six states - Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana - began at 9 am on Friday. 

For the 58 Rajya Sabha seats, 33 candidates from 10 states were earlier declared elected unopposed on March 15, 2018. Seven union ministers including Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar were among them. 

24 March 2018

00:07 IST

Celebratory visuals from Lucknow after all the 9 candidates of BJP won the Rajya Sabha elections. 

Celebratory visuals from #Lucknow after all the 9 candidates of BJP won the Rajya Sabha elections. #RajyaSabhaElections pic.twitter.com/pA36lXAuCt

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 23, 2018

00:06 IST

I want to thank PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and CM Yogi Adityanath. I feel elated that i could do what they expected from me. We all are really delighted with the results: Anil Agrawal, BJP's winning candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections.

I want to thank PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah & CM Yogi Adityanath. I feel elated that i could do what they expected from me. We all are really delighted with the results: Anil Agrawal, BJP's winning candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections. pic.twitter.com/EuAfoEHsKT

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 23, 2018

00:05 IST

BJP used all its money power & their state powers in the voting. They did not let two of our people vote, they were not allowed to come out of the jail. Even when they had the orders from the court & the election commission: Satish Mishra, BSP.

BJP used all its money power & their state powers in the voting. They did not let two of our people vote, they were not allowed to come out of the jail. Even when they had the orders from the court & the election commission: Satish Mishra, BSP. #RajyaSabhaElections pic.twitter.com/4Bl0YLp5CM

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 23, 2018

23:51 IST

BJP used all its money power & their state powers in the voting. They did not let two of our people vote, they were not allowed to come out of the jail. Even when they had the orders from the court & the election commission: Satish Mishra, BSP. #RajyaSabhaElections pic.twitter.com/4Bl0YLp5CM

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 23, 2018

23:46 IST

All the 9 candidates of BJP have won #RajyaSabhaElections: UP CM Yogi Adityanath pic.twitter.com/Ahj6nC7wg4

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 23, 2018

23:45 IST

22:37 IST

This is the victory of democracy and it is for the welfare of Uttar Pradesh, says Mahendra Nath Pandey, BJP state president

This is the victory of democracy & it is for the welfare of #UttarPradesh: Mahendra Nath Pandey, BJP State President on #RajyaSabhaElections result pic.twitter.com/YcVwLZDlmV

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 23, 2018

22:35 IST

The nine BJP members who have been elected to Rajya Sabha from UP are Arun Jaitley, Ashok Bajpai, Vijaya Pal Singh Tomar, Sakal Deep Rajbhar, Kanta Kardam, Anil Jain, Harnath Singh Yadav, GVL Narsimha Rao and Anil Agarwal.

22:18 IST

Anil Agarwal of the BJP has won the tenth Rajya Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh, defeating BSP’s BR Ambedkar in the counting of second preference votes, say reports

22:01 IST

BSP candidate Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar may lose to BJP's Anil Agarwal in second preferential vote counting, say reports

21:58 IST

The second round of counting begins in UP

21:56 IST

Harnath Singh Yadav, Vijaypal Singh Tomar, Kanta Kardam and Dr Ashok Bajpai declared winners too

21:49 IST

Samajwadi Party candidate Jaya Bachchan wins from Uttar Pradesh. She got 38 votes. Independent MLA Raja Bhaiyya voted for her.

21:45 IST

BJP candidate Sakaldeep Rajbhar also declared winner from UP

21:38 IST

-BJP's Arun Jaitley and GVL Narasimha Rao elected to Rajya Sabha.

21:27 IST

-BJP's Anil Jain has been declared winner from Uttar Pradesh.

21:22 IST

I am very happy to have received the maximum number of votes. Happy with the trust shown in me. It is an honour for me to serve Karnataka and serve my city Bengaluru, says Rajeev Chandrashekhar of BJP 

I am very happy to have received the maximum number of votes. Happy with the trust shown in me. It is an honor for me to serve Karnataka & serve my city Bengaluru: Rajeev Chandrashekhar, BJP after winning #RajyaSabhaElections from Karnataka pic.twitter.com/cDPOTsWHj5

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

21:20 IST

It' an important responsibility. We'll take up debates and discussion very seriously. We'll live up to the expectation of national and state leadership. We'll also live up to the expectations of people of state: Naseer Hussain, Congress.

It' an important responsibility. We'll take up debates & discussions very seriously. We'll live up to expectation of national & state leadership. We'll also live up to the expectations of people of state: Naseer Hussain, Congress after winning #RajyasSabhaElection from Karnataka pic.twitter.com/OwL4sioJzc

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

21:09 IST

-After high drama and confusion, both BJP and Congress have managed to win one seat each in Jharkhand. 

20:57 IST

Congress's Dr L Hanumanthaiah, Dr Syed Naseer Hussain and GC Chandrasekhar and BJP's Rajeev Chandrashekar were declared elected by the returning officer, says PTI

20:56 IST

The ruling Congress in Karnataka today bagged three Rajya Sabha seats and BJP one in the biennial election, reports PTI 

20:41 IST

KCR-led Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) bagged all three Rajya Sabha seats. Three TRS candidates - B Prakash, J Santosh Kumar and AB Lingaiah Yadav - were elected to the Upper House. Congress candidate and former union minister P Balram Naik was defeated.

20:28 IST

JVM leader Prakash Ram has been suspended from the party over allegations of faulty voting.

20:26 IST

One vote each of BSP, BJP declared invalid in UP due to faulty voting, reports ANI.

20:22 IST

Election Commission has rejected the complaint against Jharkhand Vikas Morcha MLA Prakash Ram after reviewing the video. It was alleged that he did not show his ballot paper to the party's authorised representative after casting vote, reports ANI.

19:47 IST

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee flashes a victory sign after four TMC candidates were elected to Rajya Sabha.

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee shows victory sign following #rajyasabhaelections results pic.twitter.com/yqeRgquALa

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

19:40 IST

Counting of votes for Rajya Sabha elections begins in Karnataka, reports ANI

19:15 IST

''It is humbling and uplifting, it is a result of cooperation between different groups and MLAs,'' says Singhvi.

19:14 IST

Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi wins Rajya Sabha elections from West Bengal

19:12 IST

I do believe in democracy. My priority will be to fight against corruption, says Subhasish Chakraborty. 

I do believe in democracy. My priority will be to fight against corruption: Subhasish Chakraborty, TMC after winning the #RajyaSabhaElections. #WestBengal pic.twitter.com/H8SCMFBIQt

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

19:12 IST

Subhasish Chakraborty of TMC elected to Rajya Sabha.

19:10 IST

Counting of votes in UP for Rajya Sabha elections begins after clearance from the Election Commission, reports ANI

19:08 IST

TDP leader C M Ramesh unanimously elected to Rajya Sabha consecutively.  

TDP leader C M Ramesh, has been unanimously elected to Rajya Sabha consecutively. (File Pic) #AndhraPradesh #RajyaSabhaElections pic.twitter.com/R6JRfWE6r4

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

18:59 IST

I am in the seventh heaven of delight. This is the brainchild of CM Mamata 'didi'. I am very hopeful that I will live up to her expectations, says Abir Ranjan Biswas  

I am at the seventh heaven of delight. This is the brain child of CM Mamata didi. I am very hopeful that I will live up to her expectations: Abir Ranjan Biswas, TMC after winning the Rajya Sabha seat. #RajyaSabhaElections #WestBengal pic.twitter.com/ZEhbYQyFQr

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

18:59 IST

 Abir Ranjan Biswas (TMC) elected to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal.

18:46 IST

Counting of votes in Karnataka has not started as yet because Janata Dal (Secular) had complained to EC about some discrepancy. Janata Dal has boycotted the voting now, so that will also enhance our chances of victory, says Congress leader G Parameshwara.

Counting of votes has not started as yet because Janata Dal had complained to EC about some discrepancy. Janata Dal has boycotted the voting now, so that will also enhance our chances of victory: G. Parameshwara, Congress #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/3Cv5Z61D5Z

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

18:42 IST

Among others who have been elected are – Kumar Ketkar of Congress, Narayan Rane and Prakash Javadekar and V Muralidharan (all from BJP), Anil Desai (Shiv Sena) and Vandana Chavan (NCP). All of them have been elected unopposed.

18:39 IST

RS polls results: BJP's Saroj Pandey has elected to the Rajya Sabha from Chhattisgarh by beating Congress's Lekhram Sahu.

18:35 IST

SP, BSP demand Election Commission to declare votes of BJP's Nitin Agrawal and BSP's Anil Singh invalid alleging that they did not show their ballot paper to the polling agent, reports ANI.

18:33 IST

EC has received a complaint from Jharkhand Vikas Morcha for cancellation of vote of Prakash Ram, who cross-voted. Further view will be taken by the commission after receiving Returning Officer's report, says EC  

18:23 IST

-BJP will win in other states as well under the leadership of PM Modi and party president Amit Shah: Saroj Pandey, BJP

BJP will win in other states as well under the leadership of PM Modi and party president Amit Shah: Saroj Pandey, BJP pic.twitter.com/7ZlD2m8cJn

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

18:21 IST

Counting has been put on hold in Karnataka after the complaint made by JD(S) was forwarded to the CEC. Officials say that they are waiting for clearance before starting the counting.  

18:19 IST

Uttar Pradesh: Election Commission has not given permission to begin the counting of votes for Rajya Sabha election due to some objections in ballot papers. Counting to begin only after EC gives clearance, reports ANI.

#UttarPradesh: Election Commission has not given permission to begin the counting of votes for Rajya Sabha election due to some objections in ballot papers. Counting to begin only after EC gives clearance.

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 23, 2018

17:13 IST

SP MLA Raja Bhaiyya met CM Yogi Adityanath, said meeting had nothing to do with the election in Rajya Sabha.

17:12 IST

Congress MLA Anila Bhediya accused of disclosing vote cast in secret ballot, reports ANI.

16:57 IST

JVM MLA Prakash Ram intentionally didn't show ballot paper and concealed marked column, alleges AICC

16:55 IST

AICC gives a memorandum to the EC requesting it to issue directions to the concerned Returning Officer to cancel vote cast by Jharkhand Vikas Morcha MLA Prakash Ram.

16:52 IST

JDS alleges illegal voting in Rajya Sabha, urges EC observer to counter mandate the process.

15:00 IST

Rajya Sabha polls: Cross-voting reported from Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka 

14:13 IST

“Two senior Congress leaders cross voted in the first ballot paper. Returning officer allowed them to vote again in fresh ballot paper. Illegal voting is going on, requested EC Observer to counter mandate the process,” said Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy

13:34 IST

12:10 IST

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has fielded four candidates--Nadimul Haque, who was renominated, Subhasish Chakraborty, Abir Biswas and Santunu Sen -- has announced its support to Congress' Singhvi for the fifth seat.

11:20 IST

"All the 9 candidates of BJP will win. SP insulted their worker & people will answer them for choosing a candidate that entertains the society rather than one who serves the society," said Nitin Agrawal, BJP leader and son of Naresh Agrawal

11:18 IST

Meanwhile, TDP MP Naramalli Sivaprasad dresses up as a cattle herder to protest over demand of special status for Andhra Pradesh, other TDP MPs also staged protest in Parliament premises. Sivaprasad had also dressed up as a women and a school boy among others. 

Supreme Court sought a detailed reply from 12 states & Union Territories including Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu & Jammu and Kashmir for not appointing Lokayukta, directed respective Chief Secretary of states to file affidavit in the issue within 2 weeks & apprise court about it

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

11:12 IST

Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till Monday after TDP MPs storm the session

11:09 IST

Voting underway at #Kerala Legislative Assembly in Thiruvananthapuram for one #RajyaSabha seat from the state pic.twitter.com/eMVXwQLJ5i

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

11:04 IST

Lok Sabha adjourned till noon. 

10:42 IST

Rajya Sabha polls total seat distribution:

Uttar Pradesh: 10 seats
West Bengal: 5 seats
Karnataka: 4 seats
Telangana: 3 seats
Jharkhand: 2 seats
Chhattisgarh: 1 seat
Kerala: 1 seat

10:41 IST

"I have voted for BJP, I don't know about the rest," says BSP MLA Anil Singh.

10:40 IST

"The entire opposition is united in these biennial polls," says Shivpal Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party`s (SP) legislator from Jaswantnagar.

10:40 IST

It will conclude at 4 pm, after which counting will begin at 5 pm.

10:27 IST

Voting underway at Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly in Raipur for one Rajya Sabha

Voting underway at #Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly in Raipur for one #RajyaSabha seat from the state pic.twitter.com/zOPhUvXZBP

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

10:26 IST

Rajya Sabha polls underway in Telangana:

#Visuals from Telangana assembly ahead of voting for three #RajyaSabha seats from the state pic.twitter.com/Uh3atyBHil

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

10:26 IST

"BJP will win all the nine Rajya Sabha seats where we have fielded our candidates. Nine more BJP candidates will make entry to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh this time," says Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya

10:18 IST

There will be no cross-voting, but yes BJP MLAs will cross-vote in our favour: SP Leader Ram Gopal Yadav

10:17 IST

Bengaluru: CM Siddaramaiah & Congress MLAs met at Vidhan Soudha. 

Bengaluru: CM Siddaramaiah & Congress MLAs met at Vidhan Soudha. (Earlier Visuals) #RajyaSabhaElections #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/upy3rHacjZ

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

10:14 IST

West Bengal MLAs queue up at the state assembly to cast their votes for Rajya Sabha Elections:

Kolkata: MLAs queue up at the state assembly to cast their votes for #RajyaSabhaElections, 5 seats are being contested from West Bengal. pic.twitter.com/ODHVpYYHPW

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

10:13 IST

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma meets party MLAs in Lucknow:

Lucknow: Visuals from Uttar Pradesh Assembly; CM Yogi Adityanath meets party MLAs, Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma also present. #RajyaSabhaElections pic.twitter.com/DwSfe53Aqj

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 23, 2018

09:44 IST

Senior BJP leaders Prakash Javdekar, BS Yeddyurappa and party's Rajya Sabha candidate Rajeev Chandrashekar meet at Bengaluru party office in Vidhan Soudha

Bengaluru: Senior BJP leaders Prakash Javdekar, BS Yeddyurappa & party's Rajya Sabha candidate Rajeev Chandrashekar met at their party office in Vidhan Soudha, earlier today. #RajyaSabhaElections #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/52jjjmngPJ

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2018

09:21 IST

"Vijay Mishra (Nishad Party MLA) and Anil Singh (BSP MLA) were present there (yesterday's meeting of BJP and its allies), which confirms their support," UP Minister OP Rajbhar said.

09:11 IST

Voting for Rajya Sabha elections in 6 states, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, begins

08:53 IST

"SP candidate Jaya Bachchan Ji and BSP candidate Bhim Rao Ambedkar whom we are supporting, will win the Rajya Sabha elections," said SP leader Rajendra Chaudhary. Considering BJP's condition I'd say that its own MLAs are annoyed and some of them may even end up siding with the opposition," he added.

08:39 IST

The country's most populous state sends 31 MPs to the 245-member Rajya Sabha. Besides Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the others in the fray are from BJP are Ashok Bajpai, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, Sakal Deep Rajbhar, Kanta Kardam, Anil Jain, Harnath Singh Yadav, GVL Narasimha Rao and Anil Kumar Agarwal.

08:38 IST

The Trinamool Congress has asked 10 MLAs, who are officially legislators of the Congress but have actually switched to the ruling party, to vote in favour of TMC supported Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha polls.

08:21 IST

For the 58 Rajya Sabha seats to be filled, 33 candidates from 10 states were declared elected unopposed on March 15. Seven union ministers including Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar were among them.

08:21 IST

BJP is virtually assured of 8 of the 10 seats amid suspense whether it can snatch an extra seat in the light of the newfound bonhomie between former arch rivals Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.

08:20 IST

Counting of ballots will be taken up at 5 pm, an hour after the end of votes.

08:20 IST

Counting of ballots will be taken up at 5 pm, an hour after the end of votes.