Sad that Ahluwalia lost: BJP

Delhi, May 3 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party Thursday said it was sad that senior party leader S.S. Ahluwalia could not be re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand.

'We are very sad that our candidate did not win,' Rajya Sabha member and party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told IANS.

'We are happy that JD-U (Janata Dal-United) gave support... but ultimately it is sad our candidate could not win,' he said.

Ahluwalia failed to retain his seat, while Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won one seat each Thursday, with their candidates respectively securing 25 and 23 votes in the 81-member assembly.

The defeat came as a blow in face for the BJP, which nominated Ahluwalia after much drama.

The BJP had first decided to back independent candidate Anshuman Mishra, but the decision led to dissent in the party.

With several seniors BJP leader voicing their displeasure at the way party legislators were asked to vote in favour of Mishra, the BJP leadership decided to dump him.

The Election Commission (EC) had countermanded the elections on March 30 following allegations of horse trading, after Rs.2.15 crore was seized from vehicle of a relative of an independent candidate.

In Thursday's elections, the Congress with 13 legislators got support of five Rashtriya Janata Dal members and seven Independents, while the JMM, which has 18 legislators, got support of five members of ruling alliance partner All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU).

The BJP, which also has 18 legislators, secured the votes of two JD-U members.

The two Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant as the terms of BJP's Ahluwalia and Congress's Mabel Rebello ended.