CHANDIGARH: Fearing “cross-voting” and aiming to keep its flock together ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, the opposition Congress in Haryana has sent its MLAs to a private resort in Kufri near Shimla in Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh.
Sources said all the legislators first had lunch at Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s residence before boarding luxury buses for Kufri. The group was escorted by three MPs - Hooda’s son and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda, Sonipat MP Satpal Brahmchari and Ambala MP Varun Chaudhary.
State in-charge B K Hariprasad and Haryana Congress president Rao Narender Singh also accompanied the MLAs. A training session for legislators on the voting process will also be held there.
Staff at Adventure Resort Kufri in New Kufri Gallu Hills confirmed that 32 rooms had been booked for three days from March 13 to 15 and that the legislators had started checking in. “Initially we did not have any idea who these people were; we only came to know from the media,” a staff member said.
Earlier in the day, the Congress Legislature Party held a meeting and decided to move its MLAs to Shimla. The legislators will return to Chandigarh on March 16, the day of voting. Hooda is expected to remain in the state.
Sources said four to five MLAs did not join the trip due to prior family commitments or health issues.
Elections 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 seats in the Assembly. The second seat will see a contest between Congress nominee Karamvir Singh Boudh and Independent candidate Satish Nandal, who is backed by the BJP and is believed to be relying on possible cross-voting.
The Congress has 37 MLAs in the Assembly and needs 31 first-preference votes for Boudh to win.
The party had earlier faced cross-voting in the 2022 Rajya Sabha elections when Ajay Maken lost the contest. At the time, the Congress had moved its MLAs to Chhattisgarh, but MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who later joined the BJP, cross-voted. The party had also accused Kiran Choudhry, now with the BJP, of casting an invalid vote.
In 2016 too, controversy over the use of different ink led to 12 votes being declared invalid, resulting in the defeat of Congress-backed Independent candidate advocate R K Anand.
Rajya Sabha elections follow an open ballot system, and an MLA cannot be disqualified from the state Assembly for cross-voting.
After the last date for withdrawal of nominations ended on Monday, candidates from the BJP, Congress and an Independent remain in the fray for the two seats. The terms of BJP members Kiran Choudhry and Ram Chander Jangra are set to end on April 9.
Responding earlier to speculation about possible cross-voting, Hooda said such reports were confined to the media and insisted the Congress had the required strength to ensure victory for its nominee.
Echoing the same, Haryana Congress president Rao Narender Singh said the party’s 37 MLAs would ensure the win of the Congress candidate.