Shibu Soren and Deepak Prakash elected to Rajya Sabha

Ranchi: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo Sibu Soren and BJPś Deepak Prakash were elected as Rajya Sabha MPs from Jharkhand here on Friday. Soren got a total of 30 votes of first preference while the BJP leader got a total of 31 votes.

Shahzada Anwar of Congress, the third candidate in fray, got 18 votes. In order to get elected to the upper house, each candidate required 27 votes, one-third of the total house strength.

Voting for the two RS seats was held from 9 am till 4 pm. A total of 79 legislators cast their votes. Counting started at 5 pm.

Sibu Soren was sure to get elected as he enjoyed 29 JMM votes besides having the support of 15 Congress MLAs, one RJD, one M-L and Independent MLAs Bandhu Tirkey and Pradip Yadav. NCP MLA Kamlesh Singh also supported Soren.

Deepak Prakash on the other hand enjoyed the support of 26 party MLAs and two AJSU MLAs. Independent MLAs Amit Yadav and Saryu Roy played a crucial role in ensuring his win. Former CM Babulal Marandiś return to BJP also proved helpful to the party.

However, the Congress candidate could not fetch the magic figures. The total party tally was reduced to 15 after the recent death of Bermo MLA and senior Congress leader Rajendra Singh. Despite their best efforts, Congress leaders could not take the figure beyond 20.