Rajya Sabha dy. chairman poll: It is Harivansh vs Hariprasad

New Delhi, Aug 9: The numbers appear to be tilted clearly in favour of the NDA in the elections to the post of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman. However the Congress has refused to leave the arena and fielded B K Hariprasad for the post, who will be taking on the NDA's Harivansh.

The election is scheduled for today at 11 am. Anand Sharma of the Congress said that the joint opposition decided to field a candidate and not go in for a consensus as it was opposed to the Modi sarkar. Sharma in a statement said that the opposition is not happy with the present state of affairs and prevailing environment in the country. This contest must be taken in that spirit, he said.

With the BJP, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and RCP submitting papers of support in favour of Harivansh, it appears that the NDA's victory is a done deal. On the other hand the candidature of Hariprasad was backed by the BSP, NCP, Congress, RJD and Samajwadi Party.

The NDA is believed to have mustered the support of 120 MPs in the Upper House where the magic mark is 123. The opposition on the other hand believes it can muster the support of 118 MPs.