Amid fear of cross-voting, the Congress, the main opposition party in the state, has shifted its Haryana MLAs outside the state ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. According to information shared by a Congress legislator, as many as 27 MLAs were shifted to Raipur by a private jet. Kiran Chaudhary, Kuldeep Bishnoi, Bhupender Singh Hooda and Chiranjivi Rao are among the remaining legislators who did not go to Raipur. It is a noticeable fact that Kuldeep Bishnoi is upset with the party high command and Hooda after he was not appointed the state party president. Following the same, he continues to remain absent from the meetings held pertaining to the Rajya Sabha elections which is an alarming situation for the party to some extent as it is most likely to weaken the party’s position ahead of polls. It is worth mentioning Raipur is the capital of Chhattisgarh state being ruled by the Congress government.
While reacting to the shifting of the party legislators, Vivek Bansal, the Congress state in-charge said that they are being taken to Raipur to make them participate in a training camp and the party is united. Further, he said that Kuldeep Bishnoi has stood firmly with the party. In this series, taking on the feud among the Congress leaders, Ramchander Jangda, a Rajya Sabha MP and a BJP leader said that everyone is familiar with the ongoing infighting in the party. Further, he said, the Congress is a divided house in the state which has forced the party leader Randeep Surjewala to contest the election from Rajasthan in place of Haryana.
The Congress and the BJP had announced the candidature of former Union Minister Ajay Maken and ex-MLA Krishan Lal Panwar respectively. The speculation was rife that they will be elected unopposed as only 30 first-preference votes are required to win one seat. In this series, a big surprise and new political development surfaced After Kartikeya Sharma filed his nomination as an Independent candidate backed by the JJP, the Congress seems to be witnessing a tough battle. It is pertinent bro mention that Kartikey Sharma is the son of former Congress leader Vinod Sharma and the son-in-law of ex-Haryana Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma, he is likely to give Maken a tough fight.
Election for a total of 57 Rajya Sabha seats in 15 states will be held on June 10. In Haryana, 2 seats are up for grabs due to the impending retirement of BJP’s Dushyant Gautam and Independent MP Subhash Chandra.