Guwahati: The ruling Congress on Friday won both Rajya Sabha seats from Assam with seven Opposition legislators, four of them from the Bharatiya Janata Party, cross-voting in defiance of a whip. These members, including one from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and two from the All-India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), cast their votes in favour of the Congress' second choice candidate, Sivius Condpan.
All these seven MLAs have immediately been suspended from their parties.
The Congress' first choice candidate, Nanzeen Faruque, secured 43 votes and Mr. Condpan, a sitting Rajya member, 42. The Opposition-backed independent, Jayanta Barua, got 40. One vote was rejected.
Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma himself was behind the wheel, driving BJP legislators Rumi Nath, elected from the Borkhola constituency, Kartiksena Sinha (Patharkandi) and Abhijit Hazarika (Rangapara) from a posh hotel along the Guwahati-Shillong Road to the Assembly premises.
The other BJP legislator, Sambhu Sing Mallah (Ratabari) also told journalists that he had voted for the Congress.
The AGP already suspended its MLA from Rupohiat, Abdul Aziz, for openly declaring that he would vote for the ruling party.
The AIUDF suspended Rasul Haque and Anwarul Haque for defying the party whip.
BJP general secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad, who arrived here as the party's central observer, told journalists that it would formally move Speaker Tanka Bahadur Rai for disqualification of the four MLAs.
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