Rajya Sabha polls begin : Keen contest between BJP and Congress

 In eight other states, 30 candidates have already been elected unopposed to the Upper House of Parliament.

The states where Rajya Sabha polls are being contested are: Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Prades and Jharkhand.

The election is crucial particularly for the BJP, which is desperately trying to increase its number in the Rajya Sabha where it is in a minority. 

Despite being in the government the party has suffered several jolts in the upper house in the recent past while trying to push through important legislation.

Besides fielding its own candidates, the BJP is  supporting some independent candidates to ensure that the Congress does not win any extra seats.

Going by its strength in several state Assemblies the BJP is set to increase its number in the upper house and narrow the difference with the opposition, particularly the Congress.

However, in its tussle with the Congress for gaining an extra chunk of the pie, the BJP finds the going not so easy in states like Uttar Pradesh where Congress candidate Kapil Sibal is getting the support of the Bahujan Samaj Party. The BJP is supporting an independent candidate Preeti Mahapatra and the total number of aspirants fighting for 11 seats are 12. 

In Karnataka, five nominees, including three from the Congress and one each from the BJP and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) are in the fray. While two Congress candidates and the BJP's one are set to score facile victory, the real contest will be that of  the Congress' third and the Janata Dal Secular's K.C. Ramamurthy, who is short of 12 votes and BM Farooq of the Janata Dal-Secular, short of five.
In Rajasthan, four BJP candidates and one Independent candidate supported by the Congress are fighting for five seats.

In Haryana, where the BJP does not have the numbers to get two candidates elected,  Union Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh is set to win, but an Independent candidate Subhash Chandra, being backed by the BJP, will fight for the state's second seat with senior lawyer R.K. Anand, an Independent candidate who is banking on the support of  the Congress and Indian National Lok Dal.

In Madhya Pradesh, where three seats are on stake, the BJP will get two by dint of its strength in the Assembly and an Independent it is supporting is pitted against the  Congress, whose candidate is short of just one vote.

In Jharkhand, the BJP's Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will be an easy winner of the first seat and the party is  backing an independent against Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Basant Soren, who is supported by the Congress.

In Uttarakhand, the Congress' Pradeep Tamta faces a contest from two independents, backed by the BJP.