Harivansh, who was elected Deputy Chairman on Thursday, was in the chair in the afternoon when the private members’ business was taken up. (PTI Photo) Harivansh, who was elected Deputy Chairman on Thursday, was in the chair in the afternoon when the private members’ business was taken up. (PTI Photo) Conducting the proceedings of the House for the first time, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh on Friday showed the rule book to the government. And the Opposition was amused. Harivansh, who was elected Deputy Chairman on Thursday, was in the chair in the afternoon when the private members’ business was taken up. After an intense debate on a private member resolution moved by SP member Vishambhar Prasad Nishad demanding uniform reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes across the country, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot replied. He urged the member to withdraw the resolution saying “there is a process laid out by Parliament for inclusion and exclusion of caste in the list of SCs, STs and OBCs”. He said as per the procedure, the proposal for inclusion or exclusion of a caste in the list of SC and ST is to be sent by the states. Also read | With help from Nitish Kumar, it is BJP which gets its mahagathbandhan right Harivansh flashes a victory sigh outside Parliament on Thursday. (Express Photo/Anil Sharma) Harivansh flashes a victory sigh outside Parliament on Thursday. (Express Photo/Anil Sharma) Nishad was not satisfied and demanded division. Harivansh agreed and directed that the lobbies be cleared for voting. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad pointed out that division (voting) is not taken in case of private member resolutions, and a new convention is being introduced. He said voting had taken place on private member Bills and not resolutions. Amid a heated argument between treasury and Opposition benches, Harivansh said that rules do not allow him to take back or stop voting once it is allowed and proceeded with division. The resolution was defeated 66-32, but the Opposition quickly dubbed the government anti-Dalit because the resolution sought “amending the Constitution so that the persons belonging to SC/ST category in one state may be treated as the person of that SC/ST category all over the country to get the benefit of the reservation”. Also read | How the monsoon session of Parliament fared Prasad hit back. He said it would have been better had the Opposition, instead of opposing the triple talaq Bill, stood with the “daughters” on the issue. Nominated MP Rakesh Sinha and CPI’s D Raja were among the members who participated in the debate on the resolution. Veer Singh of BSP said people from SC/ST categories were unable to avail of benefits of reservation after migrating to another state and demanded that a caste certificate be issued to them.<doc-sep>New Delhi: Harivansh, a senior leader of the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U), was elected the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. This marks the end of Congress’ nearly four decades long dominance on the number two post in the Upper House. Harivansh, who got 125 votes in his favour, defeated joint opposition candidate B.K. Hariprasad of the Congress who got the support of 105 members of Rajya Sabha. “As per voting, ayes got 125 noes got 105. The motion is carried and I declare that Shri Harivansh has been declared as the new deputy chairman," M. Venkaiah Naidu, chairman of Rajya Sabha declared Nine motions were moved and seconded by members in the Rajya Sabha, which included five for Hariprasad and four for Harivansh. As the motion for Harivansh was first in the order, it was taken up first. A voice vote was inconclusive and so a division of vote took place. There are five key takeaways from the outcome of the elections for the new deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha. With the election of Harivansh as the deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secures yet another constitutional position in a contest with the opposition. Earlier, NDA defeated opposition candidates in the election to the President and vic- president in the last one year. Last minute glitches worried the BJP as one of its oldest allies, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was upset over its candidate not being chosen. The Punjab ally, however, came around after BJP president Amit Shah reached out to them. Similarly, the Congress too faced last minute ally troubles with all the other opposition parties backing out of fielding a candidate. In the end, it was the regional parties which held the key for the election of deputy chairman. Non-BJP, non-Congress parties such as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) were wooed by NDA leaders and ended up tilting the scales in its favour. The election for deputy chairman in Rajya Sabha was expected to be a test for opposition unity but ended up exposing the faultlines within. While all the key opposition parties did support Congress, they failed to reach out to fence-sitters like the BJD, TRS and AIADMK. The outcome will have an impact on parliamentary business in Rajya Sabha as it will give an upper hand to ruling alliance despite being in minority. With Hariprasad losing the contest, the Congress dominance over the post ends after nearly four decades. The post fell vacant after P.J. Kurien of the Congress retired last month. Earlier the number two post in the Rajya Sabha was held by several Congress leaders such as K. Rahman Khan, Najma Heptullah and M.M. Jacob. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.<doc-sep>PTI photo NEW DELHI: The opposition lost the perception battle over the election of the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman with NDA nominee and JD(U) MP Harivansh winning comfortably with 125 votes in his favour while Congress candidate BK Hariprasad polled 101, less than his full quota of votes. While all NDA votes, along with those of regional parties AIADMK and BJD, were in order, with the addition of Ram Jethmalani, representing RJD, and the lone INLD MP Ram Kumar Kashyap taking the tally to 125, there were as many as 18 absences and abstentions from the opposition. Three MPs each from Congress and SP and two from Trinamool did not turn up. DMK ranks were depleted too despite two MPs being brought to the capital by chartered flight. Out of the effective strength of 244 members, 226 cast their votes as Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP (2) abstained and AAP (3), PDP (2) and NPF (1) were absent. The result was a setback for Congress, which had forced the showdown after regional parties in the opposition decided not to field a candidate. Congress said the decision to contest should be read in the context of its view that opposition to the Modi government’s policies had to be registered. However, gaps in the opposition benches were a blow to claims of a united front against BJP and the win also helped the party claim that the opposition’s stranglehold over the Upper House had been breached. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Harivansh, dwelling on his career as a journalist and author, and described him as a “well-read” person who “has written a lot”. “He has served society for years,” the PM said in the Rajya Sabha after the result was announced. This was the second instance in recent weeks that the government has managed to ward off an opposition challenge, having won the no-confidence motion with a 300-plus vote in the Lok Sabha despite the lastminute absence by the Shiv Sena with AIADMK’s 37 MPs more than making up the difference. The Rajya Sabha election hung on the BJD’s stance and the Odisha outfit backed Harivansh with its nine MPs. The party had stayed away from the no-confidence motion. While BJP now has its nominees as President, Vice-President and Lok Sabha Speaker, the RS deputy chairman is with an ally. The successful vote also delivered the benefit of strengthening the political alliance with the Janata Dal (United) in Bihar where the party has been at odds with BJP on several issues, the most contentious being seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha polls. JD(U) has been insisting on power-sharing and early settlement of seat division for the Lok Sabha polls. Cooperation for the Rajya Sabha post indicates that the two sides are ready to sort out claims, complicated by JD(U) having just two sitting MPs but having won many more seats in the state assembly elections. JD(U) is not represented in the Union Cabinet.<doc-sep>NDA candidate Harivansh easily won the election for the post of deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha defeating opposition's BK Hariprasad. Photo: PTI It was the BJP's masterstroke to field Harivansh for the post of deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha that paid off. It made the BJP-led NDA stronger while weakening the Congress-led opposition. Harivansh, who was fielded by the NDA, belongs to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United). Though the JDU is a part of the NDA, the opposition parties have been wooing Nitish Kumar because he maintains cordial relations with many of them. Moreover, occasionally the JDU has been seen complaining against the BJP. Hence, by fielding a JDU candidate, the BJP ensured that it had the solid support of the Nitish Kumar-led party. By fielding Harivansh as their candidate, the NDA also got the support from unlikely quarters, including Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD), YSR Congress and the Shiv Sena. Nitish Kumar walked the extra mile and spoke with Naveen Patnaik to enlist his support for JDU candidate Harivansh. This was a major victory for the BJP as its tally went up by nine MPs, all of the BJD. The BJD had also come to the aid of the NDA in the No-Confidence Motion debate held last month in the Lok Sabha. It boycotted the debate and did not participate in the voting, thus, lowering the magic figure. The BJD's support to the NDA is quite significant because the BJP is its closest rival in Odisha which goes to polls along with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress has been BJD's traditional rival in Odisha. In the No-Confidence Motion debate, the BJD did not want to be seen voting with the Congress and hence, boycotted it. But this move indirectly helped the BJP. But today in the election for the deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, BJD came openly in support of the BJP-led NDA. This was a major jolt for the Congress which fielded its three-time Rajya Sabha MP BK Hariprasad. Incidentally, Hariprasad, who hails from Karnataka, is Congress leader in charge of Odisha. The NDA got another help from the opposition YSR Congress of Andhra Pradesh which abstained from voting. In a house of 244 members, the magic figure for today's election in the Rajya Sabha was 123. With eight MPs in the upper house, the magic figure came down to 119, while the NDA had the support of 125 MPs. The BJP alone has 73 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. Hence, the support from the BJD and the abstention by the YSR Congress helped the NDA candidate Harivansh sail through easily. Of late, the BJP's alliance partner from Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena, has been a thorn in the NDA unity. It has been a bitter critic of the Modi government and the BJP. Despite its MPs being part of the Modi's council of ministers, the Shiv Sena went against the "alliance dharma" and, in order to embarrass the BJP, abstained in the No-Confidence Motion debate. The Shiv Sena might have abstained again in the Rajya Sabha election for deputy chairperson today had the BJP fielded its own candidate. However, the fielding of JDU candidate Harivansh forced the Shiv Sena to dilute its anti-BJP stand and vote with the other NDA allies. By one move of fielding JDU candidate Harivansh, the BJP successfully achieved several targets and finally won the prestigious election for the Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson's post.<doc-sep>
NEW DELHI: The first day for the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh was eventful as he followed the rule book and had a last laugh, even as the government faced embarrassment as it had to vote against a private resolution seeking to amend the Constitution to ensure that SC/ST people are not denied reservation in any state.With the government’s failed attempt to repel the voting, the resolution was defeated in the House amid opposition charges that the government was “Dalit-virodhi” and “Manuwadi”.The private resolution, moved by Samajwadi Party MP Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, said when people of schedule castes and schedule tribes migrate from one state to another in search of employment and settle there permanently, they are rendered ineligible for availing reservation benefits. The resolution sought amending the Constitution to ensure that persons belonging to SCs and STs in one state should be regarded the same across the country to avail the benefits of reservation.Dissatisfied with the response from the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot on the resolution, the opposition insisted for voting and later a division on the bill.Amid the treasury benches protest, Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who was then presiding over the House, ordered the lobbies to be cleared for voting even as senior ministers loudly objected to the move.Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad intervened and said the rules do not permit voting on a resolution and it was “unprecedented”.However, Deputy Chairman said “Once the process (of voting) is started, it cannot be stopped.” The opposition MPs welcomed the ruling with thumping of desks.The resolution got 32 votes in favour and 66 against with the government benches suddenly witnessing a full strength soon after the order for voting was announced.The resolution highlighted the people belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or Denotified Castes were being deprived of facilities and concessions and neglected because of the lack of a uniform reservation system in the entire country.Intervening in the debate Gehlot urged the members to withdraw the resolution saying “there is a process laid out by Parliament for inclusion and exclusion of caste in list of SCs, STs and OBCs.”