Rajya Sabha Election 2018 Results: Arun Jaitley elected from Uttar Pradesh

Counting of votes for Rajya Sabha election has begun at 5 pm.According to initial reports,  Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley won the RS seat from Uttar Pradesh.  Of the 58 seats in the Upper House to be filled, 33 candidates from 10 states have been unanimously elected. The most-watched state in Rajya Sabha poll is BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

The saffron party has fielded 9 candidates while the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party one each. To ensure a win from UP, each candidate would need to get 37 preference votes. With the BJP and allies having 324 MLAs in the UP Legislative Assembly, the BJP will have no problem in sending 8 of its candidates to the Upper House of Parliament. While the elections in Uttar Pradesh are being watched closely, contests are on in six other states as well; West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Telangana.

The counting has evoked curiosity as cross-votings have been reported from Uttar Pradesh. Apart from that, the Karnataka Assembly witnessed a ruckus during the voting as JD (S) and polling official were involved in a verbal spat over wrong voting by two Congress leaders. Rajya Sabha seats due to fall vacant next month are from 16 states. For the 58 Rajya Sabha seats to be filled, 33 candidates from 10 states have been unanimously elected.