Usually the Rajya Sabha elections are conducted very peacefully with much of publicity about it, however, a huge drama was seen during the Gujarat Rajya Sabha polls earlier this month.
Four contestants, BJP President Amit Shah, Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, Newly joined BJP member Balwant Singh Rajput and the Congress candidate Ahmed Patel fought the elections for three seats. The victory of Shah and Irani was already predictable but the commotion was all about the third seat for which Balwant Singh and Patel had contested.
With some luck on Patel’s side when the election commission declared two votes invalid he won the polls marking the fifth term for himself as a Rajya Sabha MP. Following Patel’s victory, the agitated Balwant Singh who has lost the polls against him had filed a case against the decision of Election Commission, seeking justice.
Meanwhile, Amit Shah and Smriti Irani on Friday, 25 Aug took oath as the members under the administration of Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu. This is the first time that the BJP National President Amit Shah has been elected as the member of the upper house of the Parliament.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also attended the oath taking ceremony accompanied by a few others.