The BJP in UP with 324 MLAs, comfortably sent eight candidates, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The SP, with 47 MLAs, also easily got its candidate Jaya Bachchan elected to the Upper House.

However, the BSP was the loser as its candidate Bhim Rao Ambedkar got defeated in the cut throat election which saw disqualification of two votes one vote each of the NDA and BSP.

The SP-BSP-Congress combine suffered a setback on Thursday itself with two of their MLAs not getting relief from courts to take part in today's voting.

Their problem was compounded when Nitin Agarwal of the SP and Anil Singh of the BSP cross-voted for the BJP candidates. Nitin is the son of former SP leader Naresh Agarwal who switched over to the BJP earlier this month. Peeved over the denial of a Rajya Sabha ticket from SP, he crossed over to the BJP.

According to sources, one MLA of the BJP's ally Suheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) also cross-voted for the BSP candidate.

Thanks to horse trading Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) extended its position as the largest party in the Rajya Sabha, winning 28 of the 58 seats that went to polls on Friday, even though a majority will continue to elude the ruling NDA.

Among the 58 outgoing parliamentarians, 17 were from the BJP and 14 from Congress. As many as 16 and five members of the BJP and the Congress were declared elected uncontested out of a total 33 on March 15, the last day of withdrawal of candidates.

The BJP now has 69 seats in the Rajya Sabha, up from the earlier 58.

The BJP-led NDA’s chances of inching towards a majority in the 245-member upper house have suffered a setback, with the TDP, which has six members, walking out of the alliance.