2020 Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha election
Harivansh Narayan Singh (JD-U) was re-elected Deputy Chairman of India's Rajya Sabha on 14 September 2020, defeating RJD's Manoj Jha by voice vote in a contest widely read as a Bihar election proxy fight.
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- Established
- 2020-09-14
- Location
- Rajya Sabha, Parliament House, New Delhi
- Country
- India
- Body
- Rajya Sabha (Council of States), Parliament of India
- Winning candidate
- Harivansh Narayan Singh (Janata Dal (United), NDA)
- Opposing candidate
- Manoj Jha (Rashtriya Janata Dal)
- Method of decision
- Voice vote (no counted division held)
- Significance
- Harivansh's second consecutive term as Deputy Chairman, having first won the post in 2018
Overview
On 14 September 2020, Harivansh Narayan Singh of the Janata Dal (United), representing the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), was re-elected Deputy Chairman of India’s Rajya Sabha, defeating the opposition’s candidate, Manoj Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The result was decided by voice vote, with Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu declaring Singh chosen for the post (Zee News). Singh’s nomination was moved by Bharatiya Janata Party president J.P. Nadda and seconded by Leader of the House Thavarchand Gehlot, while the rival motion proposing Jha was moved by Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and seconded by Congress leader Anand Sharma (Zee News). This was Singh’s second consecutive term in the post, having first been elected Deputy Chairman in 2018.
Background: the 2018 first election
Singh was first elected Deputy Chairman on the penultimate day of Parliament’s 2018 monsoon session, defeating Congress-backed candidate B.K. Hariprasad by 125 votes to 105 in the 244-member House, with 14 members absent. The Shiv Sena, then still within the NDA fold, said it would back Singh because the post was “apolitical,” while the Aam Aadmi Party boycotted the vote altogether, with AAP leader Sanjay Singh publicly questioning the opposition’s approach to building support (Gulf News).
A proxy contest ahead of the Bihar election
Indian press coverage framed the 2020 rematch as more than a parliamentary formality. Because the JD-U was the NDA’s governing ally in Bihar while the RJD was its principal state-level opponent, with Bihar’s Assembly election due later that year, the Rajya Sabha contest between Harivansh and Jha — both prominent Bihar-linked politicians — was read as an early proxy skirmish between the two camps. Jha argued the contest was about more than personalities, saying his election would “send out a strong message to the ruling party that please, start listening to the opposition” (Deccan Herald).
What this profile does not claim
Because the 14 September 2020 result was declared by voice vote, no official counted tally exists for that specific election, and this profile does not assert one; a pre-vote estimate reported by Deccan Herald (roughly 135 of 244 votes for the NDA side) is presented only as a reported expectation, not a final count. This profile also does not assert a specific procedural reason why a fresh Deputy Chairman election was required in 2020 given Singh’s incumbency since 2018 — no source read for this profile addressed that mechanism directly. The 2018 vote count and the Shiv Sena/AAP details are included as background context from an independent international outlet and are not themselves part of the 2020 event.
Timeline
- 2018-08
- Harivansh Narayan Singh is first elected Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, on the penultimate day of Parliament's monsoon session, defeating Congress-backed candidate B.K. Hariprasad 125 votes to 105 in the 244-member House (14 members absent). Shiv Sena backed the NDA candidate, saying the post was "apolitical," while the Aam Aadmi Party boycotted the vote.
- 2020-09-14
- Singh is re-elected Deputy Chairman by voice vote, with Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu declaring him chosen. His nomination was moved by BJP president J.P. Nadda and seconded by Leader of the House Thavarchand Gehlot; the rival motion for RJD's Manoj Jha was moved by Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and seconded by Congress's Anand Sharma.
- 2020-09
- Indian press frames the contest as intertwined with Bihar's upcoming state elections, since JD-U is the NDA's governing ally in Bihar while RJD is its principal opponent there; Jha said his election would "send out a strong message to the ruling party ... to please start listening to the opposition."
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The 2020 election was decided by voice vote with no counted division, so there is no official numeric tally for that specific vote; a pre-vote estimate of roughly 135 of 244 votes in the NDA's favour, reported by Deccan Herald, is a reported expectation ahead of the poll, not a confirmed final count.
- This profile could not independently confirm, from a directly-read source, the precise procedural reason a fresh Deputy Chairman election was required in September 2020 given that Harivansh already held the post since 2018 (most likely tied to the expiry and renewal of his own Rajya Sabha membership term, but no source read for this profile states this explicitly).
Sources
3 sources (3 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
This profile is built from three sources fetched and read in full: Zee News's report on the 14 September 2020 vote (an independent Indian television-news outlet, unrelated to any of the parties or candidates involved); Deccan Herald's report situating the contest against the 2020 Bihar Assembly election (an independent national newspaper); and Gulf News's report on the 2018 first election, used only for background context (an independent international outlet). No first-party or campaign source was used.
- Harivansh Narayan Singh re-elected as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Supports: The 14 September 2020 date, the voice-vote method, Chairman Venkaiah Naidu's declaration, and who moved and seconded each candidate's nomination.
- Bihar polls prequel in Rajya Sabha: RJD's Manoj Jha vs JD(U)'s Harivansh Supports: The framing of the contest as linked to the 2020 Bihar Assembly election, the reported pre-vote vote-strength estimate, and Manoj Jha's quoted remarks about the opposition.
- NDA's Harivansh Narayan Singh elected as Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Supports: Background on the 2018 first election: the 125-105 vote count against B.K. Hariprasad, and the positions taken by Shiv Sena and the Aam Aadmi Party.
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