The Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally United People’s Party Liberal won both the Rajya Sabha seats in Assam in the election to the Upper House on Thursday. With this, the BJP became the first party since 1988 to have 100 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, reported News 18.
BJP’s Pabitra Margherita won by 11 votes and United People’s Party Liberal candidate Rwngwra Narzary by nine, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, the Congress suspended one of its MLAs for going against the chief whip’s directions, reported The Indian Express.
The Opposition had jointly fielded Congress leader Ripun Bora from one of the seats. However, before the elections, the Congress had accused the All India United Democratic Front of favouring BJP’s candidate. The Badruddin Ajmal-led party too had claimed that some Congress workers would be voting against Bora.
Amid this infighting, Sarma had expressed confidence of winning both the seats.
“The Congress does not know that many of its MLAs are going to join the BJP,” he had said. “Also, candidates are not bound to follow the whip issued by the party in Rajya Sabha polls. By this calculation, we will manage to get both the seats.”
During Thursday’s election, Congress MLA Siddique Ahmed’s vote was cancelled as he wrote “one” instead of numeric 1.
In a statement, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee said that Siddique had intentionally violated the direction of the chief whip of the party. The statement said this was confirmed by All India Congress Committee Secretary Prithviraj Prabhakar Sathe.
“In view of this violation, as a strict disciplinary action, Mr. Siddique Ahmed has been suspended from primary membership of the party with immediate effect” it added.
Congress MLA Sashi Kanta Das had earlier announced that he would be voting for the BJP, reported PTI.
While Margherita won unopposed, Narzary was contesting against Bora. Margherita secured 46 votes, Narzary 44 votes and Bora 35. A candidate needed 43 votes to win any seat.
The ruling National Democratic Alliance has 79 MLAs in the 126-member Assembly. The NDA also has the backing of the Bodoland People’s Front, which has three MLAs but has not entered into a formal alliance with the BJP.
The Congress has 27 MLAs in the Assembly, the All India United Democratic Front 15 and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) one.
There are seven Rajya Sabha seats from Assam. Before Thursday’s elections, the BJP already held three seats and its ally Asom Gana Parishad one. An Independent MLA holds the last seat.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!