IMPHAL, June 19 - BJP nominee Sanajouba Leishemba, who is also Manipur�s titular king, today won the lone Rajya Sabha seat in the State by defeating his Congress rival T Mangibabu Singh by four votes in a keenly watched electoral battle. Leishemba won 28 votes against the 24 secured by Mangibabu Singh.
Voting for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in the State took place today against the backdrop of the Opposition Congress and its new-found allies demanding a special session of the State Assembly for a floor test of the BJP-led coalition Government. The N Biren Singh-led Government plunged into trouble after three BJP MLAs resigned from the party as well the Assembly, and six other alliance MLAs withdrew support to the Government on Wednesday.
Voting for the Rajya Sabha seat was earlier scheduled on March 26, but it was deferred due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to reports available, voting began at the committee room of the State Assembly at 9 am and continued till 4 pm.
Leishemba and Mangibabu Singh were the only candidates in the fray.
As many as 52 members of the 60-member House cast their votes as three MLAs had already resigned while five others were disqualified ahead of the polling, sources said.
Three BJP MLAs who had earlier resigned and five others, including four from the Congress and one from the All Indian Trinamool Congress (AITC), ceased to be members after they were disqualified by the Speaker�s Tribunal under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.
One of the four Congress MLAs was disqualified on March 28, while the remaining three and the lone AITC legislator were disqualified on June 18.
After the resignation and disqualification, the Assembly constituencies of Andro, Henglep, Lamlai, Naoriya Pakhanglakpa, Kumbi, Kakching, Thanga and Tamenglong have now fallen vacant, according to separate bulletins issued by the Manipur Legislative Assembly.
Significantly, there was suspense as the poll result was not announced for a long time. The Returning Officer said that NPP agents had complained of alleged violation of secrecy of voting, which was later disposed of.
