The Haryana Congress Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC) will prepare a report and send its recommendations to the party high command regarding the alleged cross-voting by five Congress MLAs during last month’s Rajya Sabha polls.
The committee, chaired by senior leader Dharampal Malik, met at the Haryana Congress office in Chandigarh on Friday evening. The five MLAs are accused of cross-voting in favour of BJP-backed Independent candidate Satish Nandal and were earlier issued show-cause notices by the party.
The notices were issued for alleged anti-party activities, stating that the MLAs deliberately failed to vote for the Congress’ official candidate. Polling for two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana was held on March 16.
BJP candidate Sanjay Bhatia won one seat comfortably, while Congress nominee Karamvir Singh Boudh secured the second seat after a close contest against Independent candidate Satish Nandal.
The alleged cross-voting weakened what was otherwise considered a comfortable position for the Congress to secure an easy win. In addition, four Congress votes were declared invalid during the counting process.
The Congress named five legislators — Naraingarh MLA Shalli Chaudhary, Sadhaura MLA Renu Bala, Punhana MLA Mohammad Illyas, Hathin MLA Mohammad Israil and Ratia MLA Jarnail Singh — for allegedly going against the party’s official stand.
Chaudhary, Bala and Jarnail Singh later denied the allegations. They said their names were being unnecessarily dragged into the controversy and maintained that they had voted in favour of the party candidate.
DAC chairman Malik told reporters after the meeting that only Chaudhary, Bala and Jarnail Singh had responded to the show-cause notices. He said Chaudhary and Bala requested a personal hearing before the committee. "They came, and we listened to what they had to say," he said.
"The DAC will finalise its report and convey the decision to the party high command, which will decide on further course of action," he said. Referring to the two MLAs who have not responded to the notice, Malik said their silence could be treated as acceptance of the allegations.
Earlier, senior Congress leader and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had said the five MLAs accused of cross-voting should resign on moral grounds. Hooda said the legislators had betrayed not just the party but also the voters who had elected them.
Also read: RS polls: Congress issues notices to four Haryana MLAs
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