Congress won two and BJP managed to win one out of the three seats of Rajya Sabha that had fallen vacant. Voting for the seats took place at the Rajasthan State Assembly in Jaipur on Friday. Out of the 200 members, 198 cast their votes. The two MLAs who did not cast their votes are minister Bhanwarlal Meghwal who is hospitalized and Girdhari Mahiya of CPIM who is unwell.
Congress kept a close watch while its legislators cast their votes. UDH minister Shanti Dhariwal and WCD minister Mamta Bhupesh had been designated to check the votes. While BJP had fielded two candidates it was quite clear that only one would win. The saffron party’s first choice was Rajendra Gehlot.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Dy CM Sachin Pilot, former CM Vasundhara Raje and state BJP chief Satish Poonia were among those to cast their vote early.
A total of 198 votes were cast out of 200. Congress had polled 123 votes and BJP 75 votes. Congress candidates KC Venugopal got 64 votes and Neeraj Dangi got 59. BJP candidate Rajendra Gehlot secured 54 votes while Onkar Singh Lakhawat managed to secure 20 votes. One vote was disqualified.
There was an adequate arrangement for thermal checking, caps, masks and sanitizing of hands at the entry point to the assembly. A medical team was present and samples of fifteen MLAs including Wajib Ali were taken. The reports are expected soon.
In Rajasthan, both the parties had put up their MLAs at hotels for safekeeping against poaching. Three seats had come up for election and both Congress and BJP had fielded two candidates each. Congress has fielded KC Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi, while the BJP has fielded Rajendra Gehlot and Onkar Singh Lakhawat. All three seats that had fallen vacant were held by BJP.
