BSP directs its Raj MLAS to vote for Independent candidate in RS election
The six MLAs in Rajasthan who won on Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) tickets but walked over to the ruling Congress must now vote for the independent candidate, media baron Subhash Chandra, in the elections to the Rajya Sabha, the state unit of the BSP said in a whip issued on Saturday.
“You have won on the BSP symbol, and therefore are bound to work as per the party whip,” BSP state president Bhagwan Singh Baba said in the whip to Rajendra Gudha, Lakhan Meena, Deepchand Kheria, Sandeep Yadav, Joginder Awana and Wajib Ali.
“In the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, the party has decided not to support Congress and BJP as it doesn’t agree with their policies, and will oppose their candidates,” Baba said in the whip. “In such a situation, the MLAs of BSP will vote for Independent candidate.”
Elections for the four Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan will be held on June 10.
The Congress has nominated Mukul Wasnik, Randeep Surjewala and Pramod Tiwari, while the Bharatiya Janata
Party has fielded former minister Ghanshyam Tiwari, and is supporting Chandra.
The ruling Congress, with 108 MLAs in the assembly, is set to win two of the four seats outright, and the BJP is set to win one. The Congress will then have 26 surplus votes, but 15 short of the required 41 to win the third seat. The BJP, which has 71 MLAs, will be left with 30 surplus votes after securing its seat. There are 13 Independents in the assembly.
The six BSP lawmakers joined the Congress in 2019, and the matter of their defection is in the courts, political analyst Manish Godha said. In such a situation, issuing a whip doesn’t make any sense, Godha said.
Meanwhile, fearing horse trading, the Congress has shifted its MLAs and those supporting its candidates, including independents, to a hotel in Udaipur.