RS polls: 3 from BJP including Nirmala Sitharaman register win, Congress nets one seat

Bengaluru: The ruling BJP in Karnataka had the last laugh as it won all the three Rajya Sabha seats it had contested in, out of a total four from the state, that went for polls on Friday, while the Congress managed to win only one of the two seats to which it had fielded its candidates.

The JD(S) which had fielded one candidate despite not having enough votes, failed to win any, as Congress did not accept its request for support in the name of secularism.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor-politician Jaggesh, and outgoing MLC Lehar Singh Siroya of BJP, and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh of Congress were declared victorious by the poll officials after counting of votes.

Sitharaman and Ramesh have been re-elected from Karnataka to the Upper House of Parliament for a consecutive term after this election, for which Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) were the voters.

There was suspense over the outcome of the contest for the fourth seat, which witnessed a tight contest between all the three political parties, as they had fielded candidates despite none of them having adequate number of votes to win it, and thereby forcing an election.

A total of six candidates were in the fray for the Rajya Sabha elections to the four seats from the state, necessitating a contest for the fourth one.

The fight for the fourth seat saw a direct contest between Siroya (BJP’s third candidate), Mansoor Ali Khan (Congress’ second candidate) and D Kupendra Reddy (JDS’ lone candidate).

The election to four Rajya Sabha seats was necessitated as the term of office of members Nirmala Sitharaman and K C Ramamurthy of BJP and Jairam Ramesh — is due to expire on June 30. The fourth member Oscar Fernandes of the Congress passed away last year.