Polling for RS seats in Haryana underway, Independent MLA Balraj Kundu to abstain

A majority of Haryana MLAs on Friday cast their vote for the two Rajya Sabha seats in the state while Independent legislator Balraj Kundu decided to abstain, saying the ruling BJP has been hit by scams while the Congress has insulted people by fielding outsider Ajay Maken.

A majority of Haryana MLAs on Friday cast their vote for the two Rajya Sabha seats in the state while Independent legislator Balraj Kundu decided to abstain, saying the ruling BJP has been hit by scams while the Congress has ''insulted'' people by fielding outsider Ajay Maken. Congress' Kuldeep Bishnoi was among the MLAs who cast their vote immediately after polling began at 9 am while many of his party legislators reached here from Raipur via Delhi to cast their vote later in the day.

The polling for the two seats, which started at 9 am, will continue till 4 pm and the counting of votes will be taken up soon after, officials said.

The BJP-JJP MLAs and some Independents, who were lodged in a luxury hotel on the outskirts of Chandigarh for the past two days, reached the assembly complex here in a bus to cast their vote. The BJP has fielded former minister Krishan Lal Panwar, while Maken, a former Union minister, is the Congress nominee. Media baron Kartikeya Sharma has entered the fray as an Independent.

Kundu, who has been vocal against the Manohar Lal Khattar government on several issues, announced in the afternoon that he will abstain from voting.

Talking to reporters, the legislator from Meham, claimed, ''I received many offers including monetary. But I decided to act as per my conscience''. Kundu alleged that the BJP-JJP government has been hit by many scams and that he cannot support the party or any candidate supported by it or its ally.

He also hit out at the Congress for fielding Maken, saying ''the party insulted people of Haryana by fielding an outsider''.

''Therefore, due to these reasons, I have decided not to cast vote and decided to abstain from voting," he said.

To a question, Kundu said he does not know whether anyone will stand to gain or lose with his decision, but he decided to act as per his conscience. Congress' Bishnoi arrived here Thursday evening from Delhi. He was not part of the Congress MLAs, who were lodged in a resort in Raipur.

While leaving the venue after having cast his vote, Bishnoi, while replying to a question from reporters, said he had voted ''as per my conscience''.

The Congress had shifted the majority of its MLAs to Raipur a week ago fearing to poaching of its legislators. They reached Chandigarh from Delhi around 11 am when the polling was on.

Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda, who was also accompanying the Congress MLAs from Delhi, claimed that Maken will win comfortably.

''Our candidate will get more votes than the total strength of our MLAs,'' said Deepender.

Congress has 31 MLAs in the 90-member House.

Senior Congress leader and MLA Raghuvir Singh Kadian said that Congress has the required numbers needed for the victory of its candidate.

''Our candidate will get all the 31 votes of the Congress. Besides, he will also get two-three votes in addition,'' claimed Kadian, though he did not specify who the MLAs from other outfits could support.

BJP, JJP leaders, and some Independents claimed that BJP candidate Panwar and Independent Kartikeya Sharma will win.

Haryana Ministers including J P Dalal and Anil Vij claimed that BJP and Independent candidates will emerge victorious.

Jannayak Janta Party leader Digvijay Chautala also said that Panwar and Kartikeya will win.

After reaching Delhi on Thursday evening from Raipur, the Congress MLAs arrived in Chandigarh in two luxury buses after a night halt in the national capital.

From Delhi, they arrived at the residence of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, from where they went together to cast their vote.

In the morning, Congress leader Kiran Choudhary, who was not part of the MLAs lodged in Raipur resort, met Hooda at his residence here and later went to cast her vote.

Choudhary also claimed her party's candidate will win comfortably.

The Rajya Sabha polling is also being linked to the prestige of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as it will be his first challenge after the party-appointed his loyalist Udai Bhan as the state unit chief after replacing senior party leader Kumari Selja.

While the BJP with 40 MLAs in the 90-member Haryana Assembly has nine more than the 31 first preference votes required for a straight win, the contest has become keen for the second seat with the entry of media baron Kartikeya Sharma, an Independent.

Kartikeya has the backing of the BJP-JJP combine, most of the Independents, and Gopal Kanda, the lone MLA of the Haryana Lokhit Party.

The Congress has 31 members in the state Assembly, just enough to help its candidate win a seat. Its prospects could be in jeopardy in case of cross-voting.

In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the BJP has 40 MLAs while the Congress has 31.

The JJP, which is an ally of the BJP, has 10 legislators while the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Lokhit Party have one each, and seven are independents.

Two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana will fall vacant in August with the terms of media baron Subhash Chandra and BJP leader Dushyant Gautam expiring. Kartikeya Sharma is the son of former Union Minister Venod Sharma, who had also remained a minister in the erstwhile Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government. Venod Sharma had later floated his outfit Jan Chetna Party.