NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday accused the BJP of indulging in "vote chori" in the Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana and asserted that strict action would be taken against those MLAs who have indulged in cross-voting.
The opposition party's assertion came after 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. It was a narrow win for Boudh over Independent candidate Satish Nandal (63), as cross-voting dented the otherwise comfortable position of the Congress for securing an easy victory.
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.
Addressing a press conference here, Congress MP from Rohtak Deepender Hooda said, "I want to congratulate Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, along with the entire top leadership and leaders, for the victory of Karamvir Boudh Ji in the Rajya Sabha elections in Haryana."
In Haryana, under the cover of darkness at night, the BJP "tried to murder democracy" and indulge in "vote chori", Hooda alleged.
The BJP has shown that it has no faith in democracy, he claimed.
"The BJP just wants to seize power, but the Congress party's MLAs and vigilant workers did not allow the loot to happen and ensured victory for Karamvir Boudh Ji, who works for social justice," he said at the press conference with Congress' SC Department head Rajendra Pal Gautam.
The BJP sent Gujarat's deputy chief minister to Haryana as an observer and the BJP's high command wanted to win the Rajya Sabha seat at any cost, he claimed.
"To win the seat, the BJP tried all sorts of tactics, including cross-voting, but the Congress party's MLAs foiled BJP's plans. The BJP's plan in the Rajya Sabha elections was to secure numbers through horse-trading, but when it failed, they activated their B-team INLD, which didn't clarify its stand until election day," Hooda said.
When more than 30 votes had already been cast in favour of the Congress, INLD fled from voting, he claimed.
After all this, the BJP tried to resort to its third tactic, where they roped in the Election Commission on their side, the Congress leader alleged.
"The Returning Officer (RO) showed bias and cancelled our four votes, even though all of them were valid. This was done after another election official had already placed the same votes in the valid tray. This shows that the BJP was indulging in 'vote chori' in the Rajya Sabha elections," Hooda said.
He said some Congress MLAs in Haryana have engaged in cross-voting, and the party will take action against them. The public will not forgive them either, he added.
"However, those MLAs who stood firmly with the party despite all kinds of temptations and pressures, with honesty and strength, have earned even greater respect among the people," he said.
"BJP leaders and the chief minister of Haryana had stated that the Congress party fielded a weak candidate, but those who considered a social worker weak have been given a befitting response by the MLAs. This is a victory of the Constitution," Hooda said.
Gautam said he was absolutely delighted that the Congress leadership has nominated a true Ambedkarite as the Rajya Sabha candidate.
"All the BJP leaders were calling Karamvir Boudh ji a weak candidate, because for the BJP, only people with money are strong. But the Congress is the party that can field even an ordinary worker in the Rajya Sabha elections," he said.
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 at the beginning of polling.
Five votes were later declared invalid - four of the Congress and one of the BJP, the officials said.
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 body 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 Nandal got 16.
As per the formula devised for Rajya Sabha polls, the quota required to win one seat was 2,767 (vote value), and both Bhatia and Boudh crossed that limit, leaving no room for any further transfer of votes.
However, 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.
