Ahead of the Haryana Rajya Sabha elections, the Congress has decided to move its MLAs to Shimla in Himachal Pradesh amid concerns over possible cross-voting. The decision was taken during a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) held on Friday afternoon.
After the meeting, the MLAs gathered for lunch at the residence of Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda before boarding luxury buses for Shimla.
The party has asked its MLAs to remain in Shimla until the voting day. They will return to Chandigarh on March 16, when polling for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana is scheduled to take place.
The Congress has 37 MLAs in the Haryana Assembly. For its candidate Karamvir Singh Boudh to win, the party needs at least 31 first-preference votes. However, Independent candidate Satish Nandal is banking on possible cross-voting from Congress legislators and is reportedly backed by the BJP.
State in-charge BK Hariprasad and Haryana Congress president Rao Narender Singh are also travelling to Shimla with the MLAs. Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda, Sonepat MP Satpal Brahmachari and Ambala MP Varun Chaudhary are also going with the group. A training session for MLAs on the voting process will also be organised in Shimla before the polls.
The polls for two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana will be held on March 16. BJP candidate Sanjay Bhatia is expected to win comfortably as the party has 48 MLAs in the Assembly. The second seat is expected to witness a contest between Boudh and Nandal.
The Congress has faced cross-voting in Rajya Sabha elections in the past. In 2022, the party’s candidate Ajay Maken lost the election from Haryana after cross-voting by a party MLA. At that time, the Congress had moved its MLAs to Chhattisgarh. Party MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi had cross-voted, and the party had also accused Kiran Choudhry of casting an invalid vote.
Earlier in 2016 as well, an ink controversy led to the invalidation of 12 votes that were marked using a different ink, which led to the defeat of Congress-backed Independent candidate RK Anand.
Rajya Sabha elections are conducted through an open ballot system. Under this system, an MLA cannot be disqualified from the state Assembly for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections.
In its August 22, 2006 judgment in the case of Kuldip Nayar vs Union of India, the Supreme Court stated that “The contention that the right of expression of the voter at an election for the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) is affected by open ballot is not tenable, as an elected MLA would not face any disqualification from the Membership of the House for voting in a particular manner. He may, at the most, attract action from the political party to which he belongs.”
Also read: Contest heats up for 2 Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana
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