Rajya Sabha Polls: High Political Heat In Haryana, 28 Congress MLAs Shifted To A Resort In Chattisgarh

Amidst the political tussle between the Congress and the BJP in Haryana, where the Rajya Sabha polls are to be held for 2 seats and the BJP has made it interesting by fielding Kartikeya Sharma as its second candidate, the Congress party seems to be worried due to infighting. The BJP has 40 MLAs and the Congress party has 31, while the JJP (BJP’s alliance partner) has 10 MLAs, 7 are independent and 1 MLA each belongs to HLP and INLD. 

As per the numbers, the Congress party has 31 MLAs and for Ajay Maken’s victory, 30 votes are needed. But with the dissatisfaction of senior leader and Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, troubles for the grand old party have increased. After skipping the recent meeting of the Congress MLAs in Haryana, Bishnoi has even distanced himself from the other MLAs and he didn’t move to Chattisgarh. As per the sources, 28 of the total 31 MLAs of the Congress party have reached Raipur, while two MLAs Kiran Chaudhary and Kuldeep Bishnoi are reportedly unhappy with the party’s decision and have distanced themselves from the other MLAs, the third MLA Chiranjeev Rao is said to be busy at a family function and will join the other MLAs in Raipur shortly. 

With 2 Congress MLAs – Kiran Chaudhary and Kuldeep Bishnoi being unhappy with the party, the number of MLAs for the Congress party has reduced to 29, while 30 votes are needed for the victory of Ajay Maken. On the other hand, 9 MLAs of BJP, 10 of the JJP, 7 independents and 1 MLA each of HLP and INLD, makes the total of 28 for BJP’s second candidate Kartikeya Sharma, one less than that of Ajay Maken. 

BJP’s RS candidate Kartikeya Sharma is the managing director of ITV Network. He is the son-in-law of former Haryana Speaker and Congress leader Kuldeep Sharma. Kartikeya’s father Venod Sharma is a former Congress leader and his mother Shakti Rani Sharma is Ambala’s mayor. On 19 April 2014, Venod Sharma was expelled from the Indian National Congress, for campaigning against it in the assembly elections. On 2 May 2014, he resigned as a Member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly and on 23 June he founded his own political party, Haryana Jan Chetna Party (V). 

Now with Kartikeya Sharma filing nomination as the second candidate of BJP, the Rajya Sabha battle in Haryana has turned interesting. Though the 28 Congress MLAs are in Chattisgarh and one more is expected to reach there shortly, the two other MLAs – Kuldeep Bishnoi and Kiran Chaudhary’s next step will play a vital role in these Rajya Sabha polls.

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