Congress' K.C. Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi emerged victorious in the Rajya Sabha election in Rajasthan on Friday, while Rajendra Gehlot of the BJP won the third seat on offer, the outcome of the polls being on expected lines and belying the hectic political action that preceded it.
Venugopal, who is the AICC general secretary in-charge of organisation, got 64 votes, while Dangi, who is a Rajasthan Congress leader known to be close to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, got 59 votes. BJP leader Rajendra Gehlot secured 54 votes.
In all, 198 MLAs cast their votes. Master Bhanwar Lal Meghwal of the Congress, a minister in the Gehlot cabinet, and Girdhari Lal of the CPI(M) could not cast their votes as they were unwell. One vote of the BJP was declared invalid.
The election was held with strict observance of social distancing norms in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Contactless hand sanitisers were placed at the gates. Thermal screening of the MLAs was carried out and everybody had to wear masks. There was a different pen for every MLA. In fact, COVID-19 fears played out politically during the polling when the BJP objected to MLA Wajib Ali, a known supporter of the Gehlot government, coming to the Assembly to cast his vote. The BJP raised objections saying that since he had returned from Australia only a day ago, he should have been in home quarantine. Ali was then tested at the SMS Hospital. While his test result was pending, Ali came to the Assembly wearing a PPE kit and voted. He eventually tested negative for the virus. The BJP has written to the returning officer demanding that a criminal case be registered against Ali for violating COVID-19 quarantine norms.
While the results of the election were ultimately on expected lines, in keeping with the numerical strength of the two parties, the run up to the polls had its share of hectic political activity. The BJP had queered the pitch by fielding Onkar Singh Lakhawat as its second candidate despite having the numbers to get only one candidate elected.
The political temperatures soared last week as the Congress summoned all its MLAs to Jaipur and they were sequestered in a resort on the outskirts of the state capital. Chief Minister Gehlot accused the BJP of attempting to poach the Congress MLAs. He claimed that huge amounts of cash had reached Jaipur as part of the BJP's operation to destabilise his government by offering inducements to MLAs to switch camps.
The Congress MLAs as also independent legislators supporting the Gehlot government were shifted to a five-star hotel in Jaipur, where they were supposed to stay till the day of voting in the Rajya Sabha election. Interestingly, the BJP too has moved its MLAs to a hotel in the state capital ahead of the polls.
