Trinamool gains from cross-voting, TRS makes debut in Rajya Sabha

Subbarami Reddy, a former central minister, was elected for the third term in a row while Ramachandra Rao, a close aide of former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and Khan were nominated for the second consecutive term. It will be the first term in the upper house for both TDP candidates.

Congress rebel A. Prabhakar Reddy drew a blank. Though he Thursday announced that he was withdrawing from the contest, the Election Commission went ahead with the elections as he did not withdraw before the deadline for taking back the nominations.

A legislator of the ruling party availed None Of The Above (NOTA) option, introduced for the first time in the history of Rajya Sabha elections while another lawmaker dropped a blank ballot paper in the ballot box.

Out of 276 legislators eligible to exercise their franchise, 248 cast their votes, while YSR Congress's 23 legislators, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) four members and the lone CPI-M lawmaker abstained.

In Orissa, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won three Rajya Sabha seats, but the opposition Congress managed to wrest one.