Fearing horse-trading of MLAs, ahead of the crucial Rajya Sabha polls, Congress, which had summoned all the 31 MLAs of Haryana to New Delhi, eventually took 28 of them on Thursday to a private resort in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
The polling for two Rajya Sabha seats will be held on June 10. Those who remained absent were Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, Tosham MLA Kiran Choudhry and Rewari Chiranjeev Rao.
Meanwhile, Haryana party affairs in-charge Vivek Bansal said,” “Kiran Choudhry is unwell but shall be joining the other MLAs soon. Chiranjeev Rao is celebrating his birthday with his family and he too shall join the other MLAs and so will Kuldeep Bishnoi.” However, party insiders said Bishnoi is not too keen to support any directive issued by the party high command and continues to maintain his distance from all party events ever since he was not considered for the post of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president and not even for Rajya Sabha.
BJP candidate Krishan Lal Panwar and Congress leader Ajay Maken have filed their nomination papers from Haryana for the Rajya Sabha elections. Kartikeya Sharma, the son of former Congress leader Venod Sharma and Ambala Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma, has also filed his nomination as an Independent candidate.
Congress is in a state of panic in Haryana after Kartikeya Sharma filed his nomination papers as an Independent candidate. There are two seats from Haryana time. BJP has nominated its former transport minister and a five-time MLA Krishan Panwar and Congress, which is the second largest party in the state, has nominated AICC general secretary Ajay Maken.
Congress sources said that Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda was assigned the responsibility to keep all the MLAs together and away from any influence that Kartikeya Sharma may exercise upon them. Kartikeya’s father Venod Sharma, although expelled from Congress in 2014, holds strong ties with several Congress leaders of Haryana.
Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the “MLAs are going to Raipur for a training workshop”. All these MLAs shall stay at a resort till the polling day and shall reach Chandigarh on the polling day and then go to the Vidhan Sabha to cast their vote.
Haryana Congress chief Uday Bhan said, “Those who had sought votes from people of the state against the BJP-JJP coalition should definitely vote against them. MLAs like INLD’s Abhay Chautala and Independent MLA Balraj Kundu are the ones whom people are closely watching. Both had been openly opposing the BJP-JJP coalition government. They should clarify their stand.”
Taking a dig at Congress’s move, JJP’s national convener Ajay Chautala said, “If Congress is so confident about its numbers, then why is it taking its MLAs out of the state and holding them hostage? The day when Kartikeya Sharma filed his nomination papers, JJP supported him openly. That day itself the Congress lost this battle.”