BJP-JJP-backed Kartikeya can upset Cong chances if MLAs succumb to horse-trading
THE CONGRESS, WHICH TOOK ITS 28 MLAS TO A LAKE RESORT IN CHHATTISGARH A WEEK AGO, IS KEEPING THE PARTY MLAS HUDDLED TILL THE POLLING DAY
CHANDIGARH: Even as 28 Congress MLAs flew back from Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Thursday to cast their ballot for the June 10 Rajya Sabha election, the BJPJJP backed independent candidate, Kartikeya Sharma, secured support of lone Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA Abhay Singh Chautala. Independent MLA Balraj Kundu is expected to announce his decision on lending support to Kartikeya Friday morning.
Kartikeya, though, will still fall short of the winning mark if all 31 Congress MLAs or 30 of them cast their ballot in a valid and fair manner. The stance of Congress MLA from Adampur, Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is upset with the party high command for being overlooked for the post of state Congress president, is not yet known.
BJP candidate Krishan Lal Panwar, Congress nominee Ajay Maken and BJP-JJP backed independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma are in the fray for the two Upper House seats from Haryana. Kartikeya is the son of former Congress minister Venod Sharma and son-in-law of Congress leader Kuldeep Sharma.
Congress MLAs in a huddle
The Congress, which took its 28 MLAs to a lake resort in Chhattisgarh a week back to avert prospects of horse trading by BJP-JJP backed Kartikeya Sharma, are keeping the party MLAs huddled till the polling day.
While Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda arrived in Chandigarh on Thursday evening, the MLAs who flew out of Raipur have been kept herded at Rajasthan Bhawan in New Delhi for Thursday night and will be flown to Chandigarh Friday morning. Hooda, however, said he is not aware where the MLAs will be housed on Thursday night. Though Hooda and disgruntled Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi were on the same flight from New Delhi to Chandigarh, the CLP leader said he did not speak to Bishnoi about the election. Going by the numbers, the BJP candidate will comfortably wrest the first seat and the Congress candidate looks set to wrest the second seat unless there is horse trading. BJP-JJP backed Kartikeya, who as of now has the support of 27 MLAs, can cause an upset if some Congress MLAs switch sides or if their votes are declared invalid.
In 2016 Upper House polls for two seats from Haryana, a pen used to mark preference on the ballot indeed proved mightier when 12 votes meant for RK Anand, an independent candidate backed by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Congress, were deemed invalid because they were not marked by the official violet pen provided by the election commission. Instead, Subhash Chandra, an independent candidate backed by BJP, secured the seat.
Repaying a debt, says Abhay Chautala
Meanwhile, lone INLD MLA in the state assembly, Abhay Chautala, on Thursday justified lending his support to independent candidate Kartikeya.
The INLD MLA said since Kartikeya’s brother Manu Sharma, who was convicted in Jessica Lal murder case, had taken good care of his father Om Prakash Chautala (convicted in JBT teachers’ recruitment case) in Tihar jail, he was only repaying the debt by voting for Manu’s brother.
“My elder brother Ajay Singh, who was lodged in Tihar jail, had distanced himself from my father. Kartikeya’s brother, Manu looked after my father for five years in jail,” Abhay said.
The INLD MLA said the Congress stands to gain if he does not vote for the independent candidate. “I would never vote for the Congress or the BJP,” he said.
As per the mathematical formula for the Rajya Sabha polls, 31 votes are required to win the first of the two seats. Since the BJP has 40 MLAs, its candidate Krishan Lal Panwar will win hands down.
Congress candidate Ajay Maken should also win comfortably if all the 31 party MLAs (or even 30 MLAs since the stance of Kuldeep Bishnoi is not clear) vote for him on Friday.
The BJP-JJP coalition, with 19 second preference votes, six Independents, lone INLD MLA Abhay Chautala and HLP MLA Gopal Kanda will vote for independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma.
That will not be enough for the BJP-backed candidate to get a berth in the council of states.