The Rajya Sabha polls for 2 seats in Haryana with 3 candidates, have turned out to be a massive political tussle between the Congress and the Saffron party. Yesterday, 28 of the total 31 MLAs of Congress, were moved to a resort in Chhattisgarh, whereas three MLAs – Kuldeep Bishnoi, Kiran Chaudhary and Chiranjeev Rao stayed in Haryana.
While Kiran Chaudhary is reportedly unhappy with the reshuffle of the state unit, senior MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi is dissatisfied with Udai Bhan’s appointment as the new chief of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee. Bishnoi had even met the party high command several times before Udai Bhan’s appointment and was expecting that the party would announce him as the new chief of Haryana Congress, but, former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda won the race with his close aide Udai Bhan’s appointment as new chief of party’s state unit.
Since then, Kuldeep Bishnoi has distanced himself away from the party functions and meetings. He even skipped the “chintan shivir” organised by the Congress party in Rajasthan’s Udaipur and had kept himself away from the media as well. But today, after a couple of weeks, Bishnoi has spoken to the media personnel. As tweeted by ANI, Bishnoi said,
“Randeep Surjewala is a very good politician, such a person needs to be in the Rajya Sabha. I request all Congress leaders from Rajasthan to forget everything and vote for him on the basis of his merit.”
When asked about the Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana, Bishnoi said, “I’ve been a strong Congressman & I’m not talking to anyone else, won’t take any decision before meeting Rahul Gandhi. Until then, I’ll not stand on any platform of Congress. I’ve not decided on RS vote, will vote according to my wish, not under pressure”.
With Bishnoi’s statement, the party leadership is confused now. As per the numbers, the Congress needs 30 votes for Ajay Maken’s victory, but three MLAs including Bishnoi, have not reached Chattisgarh yet. There are 28 MLAs in Chhattisgarh currently, which is equal to the number of MLAs supporting the BJP’s second candidate Kartikeya Sharma. If even 2 of these 3 MLAs cast their vote in favour of the Congress party, Ajay Maken would easily win, but if they skip the voting or go for cross voting, the troubles for the grand old party and Ajay Maken would increase.
Now all eyes are set on Bishnoi’s next move. It’s expected that he’ll be meeting Rahul Gandhi on June 7 or June 8. The voting for the Rajya Sabha polls is scheduled on June 10.
