LUCKNOW: BJP has won nine out of the 10 Rajya Sabha seats in UP, with its ninth candidate Anil Agrawal trouncing BSP’s candidate B.R. Ambedkar by second preference vote count.
SP had promised Mayawati that it would help it win the 10th seat by transferring its surplus votes as part of the deal where BSP supported SP candidates to win the by-polls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur.
BJP easily won 8 Rajya Sabha seats, including for its senior leaders like Arun Jaitley, Anil Jain and GVL Narsimha Rao with 39 votes apiece.
Samjawadi Party’s candidate Jaya Bachchan won the 9th seat with 38 votes but BSP’s candidate lost a fierce contest for the 10th seat, notching up only 32 first .
BSP’s loss was two of its own MLAs not adding up to its number. While BSP MLA Anil Singh cross-voted for the BJP, its jailed MLA Mukhtar Ansari was denied permission by the Allahabad High Court to come out to vote.
The Samajwadi Party too had no trouble in getting its lone candidate Jaya Bachchan safety sent to the Upper House.
Independent candidate Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya claimed he had voted for SP’s Jaya Bachchan.
