Rajya Sabha election: Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Kunal Chaudhary arrives to vote

Bhopal:

The coronavirus pandemic did not stop a Congress MLA in Madhya Pradesh from voting in the elections to 24 Rajya Sabha seats today. Covered from head to toe in a white protective jumpsuit, Congress MLA Kunal Chaudhary was among the last leaders who turned up to vote at state assembly in Bhopal.

Mr Chaudhary has been tested positive for the highly infectious COVID-19.

His turn to vote came after at least 205 MLAs had already cast their votes. Mr Chaudhary, wearing the personal protective equipment or PPE suit and carrying a mobile phone in his hand, walked into a room to cast his vote.

Around him people stood in a distance to minimise the risk of getting infected as the virus is known to spread from respiratory droplets.

The voting for elections to 24 Rajya Sabha was held today after most of them were put on hold since March due to the pandemic. The build-up to the elections, in which seats from 10 states are at stake, was marked by a resurgence of resort politics, resignations, switching sides and allegations of bribery.

In two states, Gujarat and Rajasthan, the Congress whisked away its flock, accusing the BJP of attempts to buy its MLAs. The drama was more elaborate in Gujarat, where the BJP had fought a pitched battle to grab the seat of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel three years ago, and narrowly missed.

A comfortable majority in the Rajya Sabha is crucial for the BJP to pilot bills through the upper house. The NDA needs around 30 more seats to have majority in the upper house.

“It is very clear that we will win one seat in the Rajya Sabha election,” former Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath said after voting at the state assembly in Bhopal.

Elections are being held on four seats each from Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, three each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two from Jharkhand and one each from the northeastern states of Meghalaya and Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. The voting began at 9 am. The toughest fight is over one seat in Gujarat, one in Rajasthan, and one in Madhya Pradesh.