BJP's Sanjay Bhatia and Karamvir Singh Boudh of the Congress were elected to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana after the counting for the keenly-watched twin seats went past midnight following allegations of violation of vote secrecy by both sides, officials said on Tuesday. Five votes were declared invalid – four of the Congress and one of the BJP, they said. While BJP’s Bhatia (58) is a former Lok Sabha MP from Karnal, Boudh (61) is a retired Haryana government employee and a prominent Dalit activist, currently serving as the coordinator of the National Scheduled Castes Department of the Congress. The two legislators of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) abstained from voting, reducing the number of valid votes to 88 in the 90-member Haryana Assembly.
INLD leaders Abhay Singh Chautala and Aditya Devi Lal said the party decided to abstain keeping people's sentiments in view. After both the Congress and the BJP approached the Election Commission alleging violation of vote secrecy, the poll panel declared Congress MLA Paramvir Singh's vote as invalid. Bhatia won the first seat comfortably, polling 39 first-preference votes. In the fight for the second seat, Boudh polled 28 votes, while Independent candidate Satish Nandal (63) got 16. Five ballots – four of the Congress and one of the BJP – were declared invalid by the returning officer. With five Congress MLAs allegedly cross-voting, Nandal could have secured Bhatia's 11 second preference votes, reaching 28, had one more Congress legislator cross-voted in the Independent candidate's favour, sources said. Congratulating the winning candidates in a late-night press conference, Chief Minister Saini said, “Nandal lost by just one vote (referring to the narrow difference). Five Congress MLAs cross-voted. Four of their votes were rejected.”
The BJP-backed Nandal had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Assembly polls as its nominee. Asked about ‘cross-voting’ by five of his party MLAs, state Congress chief Rao Narender Singh told reporters, "Those who betrayed the Congress will face strict action.” Congress general secretary in charge of Haryana, B K Hariprasad, also said that action will be taken against the MLAs who cross-voted and “betrayed the party”. Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, told reporters, “I will not take their names (those who cross-voted), but people have understood, and they will take revenge for this.” Attacking the BJP, Hooda said, “They tried all tactics. But Congress passed the 'Agni Pariksha' (by winning one seat).” Chief Minister Saini, on his part, accused the Congress of holding its MLAs captive and transferring them to different places, referring to the shifting of Congress legislators to Himachal Pradesh just a few days before the Rajya Sabha polls.
The Congress MLAs returned to Chandigarh on Monday morning, hours before the elections got underway. "For the first time, I saw the Congress not trusting its own MLAs. The Congress is finished, it has no future,” Saini said. The chief minister also lashed out at the INLD for abstaining from voting, saying it acted as a “B team” of the Congress. The INLD indirectly supported the Congress, Saini claimed, adding that if it did not want to support the BJP, it could have voted for the Independent candidate. The counting of votes, which was to take place at 5 pm on Monday after voting ended at 4 pm, began after a delay of more than five hours after the Congress and the BJP lodged complaints of violation of vote secrecy. Commenting on his party’s victory in one seat, Hooda said, “'Prajatantar' (democracy) has won, and 'vote chori' has lost.” “Right from the beginning, one seat each belonged to the Congress and the BJP. But they (BJP) tried to steal votes for the third candidate,” Hooda alleged. The Congress veteran also alleged that the conduct of the returning officer was partisan.
Boudh thanked the party's central leadership, Hooda and other state leaders for his victory. Earlier, state minister Krishan Kumar Bedi told reporters that the BJP had complained to the Election Commission, flagging “violation of vote secrecy” of two Congress MLAs – Bharat Singh Beniwal and Paramvir Singh. “Two Congress MLAs did not have their ballots folded as per the rules, in violation of the secrecy of their votes. We have raised the issue with the Election Commission," Bedi said. However, Congress leader Ashok Arora said no complaint was raised when the two legislators voted, claiming that the complaint was deliberately filed after 4 pm. He also said the Congress has filed a complaint against senior BJP leader and state minister Anil Vij, accusing him of violating vote secrecy. Congress candidate Boudh, meanwhile, filed a complaint with the poll panel against the returning officer for alleged partisan conduct.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday night wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging an attempt to interfere with the integrity of the Rajya Sabha elections and seeking time for a party delegation to meet Kumar. In his letter, Kharge also attached a copy of the representation submitted to EC filed by party candidate Boudh. "There is a clear attempt to interfere with the integrity of the election, and it must be stopped/redressed by the ECI immediately. Furthermore, no disqualification of our legitimate voters/votes cast can be allowed in what is clearly a transparent attempt to taint/derail the process,” the letter read. "Given the time-sensitive nature of the matter, we request time for a delegation led by Abhishek Manu Singhvi, along with senior party leaders, to meet your good self before the declaration of the results," it added. In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the BJP has 48 MLAs, the Congress 37, the INLD two, while three legislators are Independents. The two Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant with BJP members Kiran Choudhry and Ram Chander Jangra set to complete their terms on April 9.