Pradeep Tamta wins RS seat

Tribune News Service

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Dehradun, June 11

Congress candidate Pradeep Tamta was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttarakhand today. He defeated his nearest rival, an independent candidate Anil Goyal, by a margin of six votes. Pradeep Tamta got 32 votes, six more than the BJP-supported candidate who got 26 votes.

The voting for the single Rajya Sabha seat began at 9 am today and a steady stream of MLAs from both Congress and BJP continued till 12 noon.

Adesh Chauhan, BJP MLA from Ranipur, was the last one to enter the Vidhan Sabha to cast his vote.

Things began to look up for the Congress after BJP legislator from Bhimtal Dan Singh Bhandari resigned from the Assembly late last night.

Besides, in another setback to the BJP, independent candidate Geeta Thakur, who had earlier pledged her support for Anil Goyal, too quit the BJP late last night. Geeta’s decision proved to be a huge embarrassment for the BJP.

However, officially there were three candidates in the fray with a direct contest between Pradeep Tamta and Anil Goyal. Soon after the results were announced, a sombre Pradeep Tamta reiterated his commitment to the state and the party. “I am thankful to both party and people of my state. I have been given another opportunity to serve the people of the state,” said Tamta.

Significantly, though BJP MLA Dan Singh Bhandari had resigned from the Uttarakhand Assembly, his name continued to be on the voters’ list. However, he preferred to keep away from the election.

“Though Bhandari’s resignation has been accepted, his membership of the Legislative Assembly will only be cancelled after the gazette notificiation. Hence he continues to be a member of the Vidhan Sabha and his name is on the electoral list,” said Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal.

Much to the relief of the Congress that was fearing cross-voting, all six PDF members (three independent, two from the BSP and one from the UKD) voted for Pradeep Tamta in the election.

After the election results were declared, independent candidate Anil Goyal said, “I had approached the election with a positive frame of mind and my priority continues to be development and well-being of Uttarakhand.”