NEW DELHI (PTI) The ruling Congress-I nominee Dr Najma Heptullah was Friday elected as deputy chairperson of Rajya sabha (upper house of Indian parliament)
She defeated the opposition national fronts Renuka Chaudhary by 33 votes. Dr Heptulla secured 128 votes while Mrs Chaudhry got 95 votes.
The Rajya sabha chairman Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma announced that Dr Heptulla had been declared elected after opposition members pressed for division and the electronic voting process was put into motion.
Earlier a voice vote had gone in favour of Heptullah who will be taking up the third term as the deputy chairperson of the upper house. She got re-elected to the house in the biennial elections on June 25 from the western state of Maharashtra
The deputy Chairperson of raiva sabha is elected through a motion moved in the house on which voting takes place immediately The voting is open and not by Secret ballot. The leader of the house and union home ministers B Chavan moved the name for the post which was seconded by the parliamentary affairs minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.
The regional all India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)s G_ Swaminath than moved the second set of nomination papers in favour of Heptulla which was seconded by Congress Suresh Pachout.
Sixteen sets of nominations including one from the deputy leader of the Congress-I party NK P Salve were moved in favour of Heptulla Four sets of motions were moved in the name of Renuka Choudhury of Telegu Desam for the post of deputy chairman. Mentay Padmanabham leader of the Telegu Desam Pany (TDP) in the house moved the first motion which was seconded by Dr Tulasi Reddy also of TDP.
Janata Dal president S R Bommai CPIs Gurdas Das Gupta DMs Murasoli Maran moved the remaining three sets of motions for Choudhury.
The BIP did not move any motion but voted along with the NF-LF combine for Choudhury.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 24, 1992
