Haryana Rajya Sabha poll row: Congress names 4 MLAs for cross-voting, orders action
BK Hariprasad says Shaili Chaudhary, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Israil and Renubala voted in favour of BJP
PTC Web Desk: The political situation in Haryana has intensified after the Indian National Congress publicly named four of its MLAs allegedly involved in cross-voting during the recent Rajya Sabha elections, exposing rifts within the party.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, party in-charge BK Hariprasad identified Shaili Chaudhary, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Israil and Renubala as those who reportedly voted in favour of the BJP. He said the party had begun disciplinary proceedings and would soon issue show-cause notices to the four legislators.
Hariprasad also questioned the fairness of the election process, alleging that “money power, muscle power and institutional pressure” may have influenced the results. He further claimed that certain votes were intentionally marked invalid. Drawing a comparison with the 2016 Rajya Sabha polls, he suggested that a similar trend had emerged again.
He alleged that despite lacking adequate numbers, the BJP supported an independent candidate in a bid to undermine the Congress nominee, who belonged to the Dalit community.
Hariprasad said he, along with senior leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, reviewed the ballot papers in their capacity as authorised agents. “We had 37 votes, but five to six were declared invalid. Upon checking, we found that four MLAs had cross-voted,” he said.
Voting for two Rajya Sabha seats was held earlier this week. BJP leader Sanjay Bhatia won one seat with ease, while Congress candidate Karamvir Singh Boudh secured the second seat by a narrow margin, defeating independent candidate Satish Nandal.
The controversy also led to tension within the Congress, with MLA Gokul Setia staging a protest demanding disclosure of the names of those involved in cross-voting. The protest was later called off following intervention by Hooda.
The Congress leadership has reiterated that strict disciplinary action will be taken and that party discipline will be upheld.