NDA's Harivansh Singh is the new Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh was today elected as the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman. 

JD(U) MP Harivansh Singh who was contesting against Opposition candidate B K Hariprasad won by 125 votes. Hariprasad, on the other hand, got 105 votes. 

The post of the Deputy Chairman has been lying vacant since June this year following the retirement of P J Kurien, who was elected to the Upper House on a Congress ticket from Kerala.

The House currently stands at a strength of 244 members and a support of 123 members is required for either of the



parties to win. While both the Opposition and the government are claiming winning numbers, AAP, PDP and YSRC have decided to abstain from voting.

The NDA government with Shiv Sena, JD(U), Bahujan Janata Dal (BJD) Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on its side has 126 members and the Opposition led by Congress has 115 members in its kitty.

Apart from the polls, Rajya Sabha is scheduled to take up the SC/ ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill. This apart, the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha.