Anand Sharma, Jethmalini among winners in Rajasthan

JAIPUR - Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalini were among those who Thursday won the Rajya Sabha election from Rajasthan.

Ash Ali Tak of the Congress and V.P. Singh of the Bharatiaya Janata Party (BJP) were the other candidates who were elected to the upper house of parliament from the state.

In all, five candidates, two each of the Congress and the BJP and independent Santosh Bagrodia, were in the fray for the four seats.

Bagrodia, a sitting Rajya Sabha MP from the Congress, was not given a ticket by the party this time. Bagrodia, however, had a tacit understanding with the Congress and had made the elections tough for the BJP candidates.

Fearing cross-voting and horse trading, the BJP, for the last couple of days, had locked up all its legislators in a hotel on the outskirts of the city.

The Congress has 102 legislators in the 200-member assembly, while the opposition BJP has 79 members.

The BJP needed 82 votes to ensure victory for both the candidates and with the Communist Party of India-Marxist, which has three members, abstaining from voting, the BJP only needed 80 votes which it was able to garner thanks to the support of lone Janata Dal-United Fateh Singh and an independent.