Nirmala Seetharaman has stepped into the shoes of Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, who had won three Rajya Sabha terms from Karnataka. Rebel JD(S) MLAs had also indulged in cross-voting in the biennial elections to fill seven seats of the Karnataka Legislative Council from Legislative assembly held on Friday. Union Minister Nirmala Seetharaman and Congress’ Jairam Ramesh, Oscar Fernandes and K C Ramamurthy on Saturday won Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka in the biennial elections highlighted by cross voting from JDS and votes for cash controversy. Nirmala Seetharaman secured 46 votes with BJP, which with 44 members was short of one vote, making up the shortfall comfortably. “8 MLA’s have voted against JD(S) in Rajya Sabh election on Saturday in favour of Congress.

Source: Indian Express June 11, 2016 15:21 UTC