Cong MLAs camp in hotel where Chintan Shivir was held earlier

Rajya Sabha elections in Haryana and Rajasthan have become a prestige issue for Congress leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Ashok Gehlot. Not taking any chances Hooda has shifted his flock of MLAs to the Congress ruled Chhattisgarh. Party Rajya Sabha MP Deependra Sigh Hooda escorted 29 MLAs to Raipur while Bhupinder Singh Hooda is camping in Delhi.

Mr. Ajay Maken is the official candidate of the Congress in Haryana his election was a certainty till the time media baron Kartikeya Sharma filed his nomination with the help of JJP. Now the Congress has become cautious and does not want a repeat of 2016 when the official candidate of the party R.K. Anand lost due to cross voting.

To win a Rajya Sabha seat in the state, a candidate needs to get at least 30 votes and the Congress has 31. However, no one is counting on Kuldeep Bishnoi who has been sulking for some time.

The Hooda camp has already enlisted three independent MLAs in support of the Congress candidate and are in serious talks are going on with some of the the MLAs of Dushyant Chautala’s JJP.

Though officially JJP is the alliance partner of the ruling BJP in the state, some MLAs may go towards the Congress candidate.

In Rajasthan, the party has fielded Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik

and Pramod Tiwari. However, it’s going to be a challenging task for the party to clear road for all three candidates for Rajya Sabha. Surjewala and Wasnik will be elected easily but there is trouble for Tewari. Independent candidate and media baron supported by the BJP Subhash Chandra is pitted against Tewari.

Nearly 70 Congress MLAs from Rajasthan are camping at a hotel in Udaipur ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections to four seats in which the party fears horse trading by the BJP. A bus carrying over 40 MLAs reached the hotel, where the party had held its ‘Chintan Shivir’ in May, around 2.30 am on Friday.

CONGRESS has become cautious and does not want a repeat of 2016 when the official candidate of the party R.K. Anand lost due to cross voting.

— PTI RJD leader Misa Bharti (C) and Faiyaz Ahmed (R) show their certificate of election after winning Rajya Sabha seat, at Vidhan Sabha in Patna, on Friday.