BJP clean sweep in Rajasthan RS polls

All four BJP candidates, including Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and senior BJP leader Om Prakash Mathur, won the elections for the four Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan on Saturday.

Om Prakash Mathur, popularly known as Om Mathur, who is considered close to the central leadership is also national vice president of the BJP. Harshvardhan Singh and Ramkumar Verma were the new faces fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Kamal Morarka, former Union Minister and an industrialist who contested the poll as an independent candidate and was supported by some of the opposition parties including the Congress, was defeated.

There was jubilation in the BJP camp after declaration of the result, with party MLAs and workers setting off firecrackers and dancing.

"I want to thank the people of Rajasthan; and as an MP from the state I will try to work towards development of the state," Om Mathur told reporters here.

Harshvardhan Singh and Ramkumar Verma thanked the partly leadership and Chief Minister. "It is a victory of the people of the state," said Ramkumar Verma.

On Saturday, 199 of the 200 MLAs cast their votes for the Rajya Sabha polls while one Bahujan Samaj Party MLA B.L. Kushwah was not allowed to vote by the High Court as he is in judicial custody.

To win the poll, a candidate required 40 votes, and looking at the BJP's strength of 160 in the state assembly coupled with support from two of the MLAs from National Unionist Zamindara Party, and a couple of independent MLAs the party was confident of winning the polls.

The elections were held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and counting was taken up after 5 p.m.