A high-stakes battle for the Upper House

Elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats across 15 states will be held on June 10 but the focus will be on four seats spread across Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka. PREMIUM For the BJP, which crossed the 100-seat mark in the Upper House in the last round of elections earlier this year, these polls represent an opportunity to gain a firmer hand on its central legislative agenda. For the BJP, which crossed the 100-seat mark in the Upper House in the last round of elections earlier this year, these polls represent an opportunity to gain a firmer hand on its central legislative agenda, insulating core elements of its ideological charter from Opposition scrutiny and attempts to send bills to committees. Hanging in the balance are the fates of the Congress’s Ajay Maken whose battle to secure his seat ahead of BJP-supported independent candidate, Kartikeya Sharma, rests on razor’s edge in Haryana, and Pramod Tiwari, who faces a difficult battle against BJP-backed independent candidate, Subhash Chandra, in Rajasthan. In Maharashtra, too, the BJP’s third candidate, Dhananjay Mahadik, will test the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi’s cohesion and floor management as every last vote will need to be corralled by the three partners to ensure that the Shiv Sena’s second candidate, Sanjay Pawar, wins.