NDA gains RS ground, BJP bags 11 of 24 seats

nNEW DELHI: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gained crucial ground in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, winning eight of the 19 seats across eight states that went to polls in the first major electoral exercise since the outbreak of Covid-19. The party has earlier won three of the five seats where candidates have won unopposed.

Former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia of the BJP, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren were among the heavyweights who emerged victorious on Friday even as high drama unfolded in Gujarat and Manipur, where the counting of votes began late amidst allegations of irregularities.

The Bjp-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which had 90 members in the Rajya Sabha, took its tally to 101 in the 245-member Upper House, where the majority mark is 123. This is for the first time that the NDA tally in the Upper House has breached 100. The BJP alone

Others

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

ANDHRA PRADESH RAJASTHAN YSR Congress Party BJP

Cong GUJARAT

BJP JHARKHAND Cong JMM

BJP

MADHYA PRADESH

BJP MEGHALAYA Cong NPP MIZORAM MANIPUR MNF BJP

Jyotiraditya Scindia (BJP) 4

3 1

2 1

1

Digvijaya Singh (Congress)

will have 86 seats. The Congressled United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will have 65 seats.

The NDA, if backed by parties 1 2

1 1

1 1

Shibu Soren (JMM)

KARNATAKA JD(S)

Cong

BJP ARUNACHAL PRADESH

BJP 1 1 2

1 1

Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress)

such as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)