Chandigarh, March 16 Voting for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana concluded at 4 pm on Monday.
While the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which has two legislators, abstained from voting, the Congress MLAs, who were shifted to Himachal Pradesh, returned shortly after the polling began at 9 am and cast their votes.
The candidates in the fray are BJP's Sanjay Bhatia, Congress's Karamvir Singh Boudh, and Independent candidate Satish Nandal. The BJP is supporting Nandal, who unsuccessfully contested the 2019 assembly polls as its nominee.
Meanwhile, Minister Krishan Kumar Bedi told reporters that the BJP has complained to the Election Commission regarding "violations of vote secrecy" by two Congress MLAs.
"Two Congress MLAs did not fold their ballots as required, thus violating the secrecy of their vote. We have lodged a complaint with the Election Commission," Bedi said.
The results are expected to be announced later in the evening.
INLD abstained from voting, with party leaders Abhay Singh Chautala and Aditya Devi Lal saying that the decision was taken considering public sentiments.
"People are fed up with both the BJP and the Congress," INLD MLA Aditya Devi Lal told reporters.
In the 90-member Haryana assembly, the BJP has 48 MLAs, the Congress has 37, the INLD has two MLAs, and there are three independent legislators.
Two candidates need 31 votes each to secure a seat in the Rajya Sabha.
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, who is an observer for the Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana, told reporters that it was sad that the Congress moved its MLAs to Himachal Pradesh and kept a close watch on their movements.
"Seeing the situation of the Congress MLAs as reported in the media, as a public representative, I feel very sad. The way they were restricted in closed rooms shows the Congress's distrust towards its own MLAs," Sanghavi said.
Haryana Minister Anil Vij, who recently fractured both his legs after a fall, arrived on a wheelchair to cast his vote.
Before the polling ended, Vij and other ministers, including Vipul Goel, expressed confidence that the BJP and the Independent candidate backed by it, will win.
Regarding the shifting of Congress MLAs, Vij said, "Congress does not trust its MLAs, which is why they were taken here and there."
The Haryana Congress had on Friday moved 31 of its MLAs to two resorts in Kufri near Shimla. The MLAs, who were shifted to Kasauli in Solan district on Sunday, returned on Monday morning. They arrived at former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's Chandigarh residence, from where they proceeded to cast their votes.
The Congress has 37 MLAs in the Haryana assembly, but a few of them did not go to Himachal Pradesh due to family commitments or health reasons.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda had also stayed back.
Notably, the Congress has the required strength to ensure its candidate's victory. However, this equation could change if there is cross-voting.
AICC secretary and state affairs co-in-charge Prafulla Gudadhe told reporters here that the Congress candidate will win.
Responding to a question, Prafulla said Nandal was a BJP leader who entered the contest as an Independent and was supported by the saffron party despite not having the required numbers.
"What does all this show? Isn't it the BJP that has indirectly put up its candidate even though Nandal may not be their official candidate? The BJP plays such kind of politics, like 'vote chori' (vote theft) we saw in the Haryana assembly polls," he said.
Nandal's candidature was proposed by three independents – Savitri Jindal, Rajesh Joon, and Devender Kadyan – and seven BJP MLAs.
Talking to reporters, he expressed confidence that he would win.
When pointed out that he did not have the required numbers on his side, Nandal said he has appealed to all the legislators to vote for him.
Nandal would need 17 second preference votes from the BJP, three votes from the Independent MLAs, and with the INLD abstaining, he would need at least eight votes from the Congress legislators.
He had lost to Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda from the Garhi-Sampla-Kiloi constituency in Rohtak district in the 2019 assembly polls. Before joining the BJP, he was with the INLD. BJP's Bhatia is a former Lok Sabha MP from Karnal.
Congress' Boudh, a retired Haryana government employee, has been a Dalit activist who has raised issues pertaining to the community on various platforms. Currently, the coordinator of the National Scheduled Castes department of the Congress, Boudh is learnt to be the choice of party leader Rahul Gandhi.
In 2016 and 2022, BJP-backed Independents won the election despite the Congress and Congress-backed candidates having the required numbers on their side.
In 2022, Congress candidate Ajay Maken lost to BJP-JJP-backed Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma despite the party having the required strength of 31, as the then Congress legislator Kuldeep Bishnoi (now with the BJP) cross-voted while another vote was declared invalid.
In 2016, the votes of 14 Congress MLAs were declared invalid, leading to the loss of a party-backed Independent candidate who was otherwise expected to win.