How Cross-Voting In Rajya Sabha Polls Has Shaken Up Parties

The INDIA bloc ended last week on a positive note following the Congress' successful negotiation of a pan-India seat-sharing agreement with the Aam Aadmi Party, as well as the Samajwadi Party for Uttar Pradesh, in anticipation of the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

Additionally, the Congress-led bloc was on the verge of finalizing agreements with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) in Maharashtra, and it had reached out to Bengal's Trinamool.

With this momentum, hopes were high leading into Tuesday's Rajya Sabha poll.

However, confidence waned as voting concluded, revealing that six Congress MLAs in Himachal Pradesh, along with three independent MLAs, and seven Samajwadi Party lawmakers in Uttar Pradesh, had crossed party lines to vote.

Predictably, these 16 votes went to Bharatiya Janata Party candidates, resulting in the party securing an extra seat in each state and gaining a morale boost ahead of the Lok Sabha election.

There was a silver lining in Karnataka, where the Congress retained three seats with the support of two independent MLAs, two from local parties, and one BJP lawmaker who voted against the party line.

Although these defeats strengthen the BJP's position, they underscore the challenges facing the INDIA bloc in the upcoming general election, especially as the BJP aims to secure 370 seats independently.

Furthermore, these setbacks will make it more difficult for the Congress to negotiate seat-sharing agreements in other states.

Already under pressure, particularly evident in the standoff with Mamata Banerjee in Bengal, the Congress may need to adjust its demands as allies highlight its recent poor electoral performance.

Notably, two of the three states where the BJP forced an election, resulting in winning additional Rajya Sabha seats, are governed by perennial rivals, the Congress.

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