Chandigarh, March 17 – Sanjay Bhatia of the BJP and Karamvir Singh Boudh of the Congress have been declared elected to the two Rajya Sabha seats in closely watched elections, despite allegations of violations of vote secrecy.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini congratulated both leaders in a late-night press conference.
Saini criticized the Congress, accusing it of holding its MLAs captive and moving them to different locations, citing the movement of Congress legislators from Himachal Pradesh.
"I have seen for the first time that the Congress did not trust its MLAs," he claimed.
Saini stated that the Congress is "finished" and has "no future."
The chief minister also criticized the INLD for abstaining from voting, calling it a "B team" of the Congress.
The INLD indirectly supported the Congress, he claimed.
Responding to a question about the independent candidate, Saini said, "How could they prevent anyone from contesting the election?"
Voting, which was scheduled for 5 pm after 4 pm, was delayed by over five hours due to complaints from the Congress and the BJP regarding violations of vote secrecy.
Congress MLA and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced that his party's nominee, Boudh, had won.
"It is our victory," he said in a statement to reporters.
"This is a victory of 'democracy' and a defeat of 'vote rigging'," Hooda said, along with other party leaders, holding up victory signs.
Hooda stated that the two seats were initially allocated to the Congress and the BJP.
However, he alleged that the third candidate was the target of "vote theft." He added that the returning officer acted in a partisan manner.
Boudh thanked the party leadership and Hooda for their support.
Meanwhile, Haryana Minister Gaurav Gautam had also earlier announced that Sanjay Bhatia, their party's nominee, had won.
Officials announced that five votes were declared invalid – four belonging to the Congress and one belonging to the BJP.
The two seats were contested by Bhatia of the BJP, Karamvir Singh Boudh of the Congress, and independent candidate Satish Nandal. The BJP backed Nandal, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 assembly elections as their nominee. The INLD's two MLAs abstained from voting.
Speaking to reporters, Bhatia claimed that five Congress MLAs had cross-voted.
Before the voting ended, Minister Krishan Kumar Bedi had told reporters that the BJP had filed a complaint with the Election Commission regarding "violations of vote secrecy" by two Congress MLAs – Bharat Singh Beniwal from Ellenabad and Paramvir Singh from Tohana.
"Two Congress MLAs did not fold their ballots as they should have, thus violating the secrecy of their vote. We have filed a complaint with the Election Commission," Bedi said.
However, Congress leader Ashok Arora said that no complaint was filed at the time the legislators voted, claiming that it was deliberately filed after 4 pm.
He further stated that the Congress had also filed a complaint against senior BJP leader and Minister Anil Vij, accusing him of violating vote secrecy.
Haryana Congress leader Rao Narender Singh had earlier dismissed the allegations of vote secrecy as false and stated that his candidate would win the election.
Congress candidate Karamvir Singh Boudh filed a complaint with the ECI against the Returning Officer for his alleged partisan conduct.
Vote counting began after the ECI gave the go-ahead, according to official sources.
Earlier, voting was held for the two seats on Monday, with the Indian National Lok Dal, which has two legislators, abstaining from polling.
The Congress MLAs who had been moved to Himachal Pradesh ahead of the polling returned to the city in the morning and exercised their right to vote.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had earlier written to the Election Commission, alleging an attempt to interfere with the integrity of the Rajya Sabha election and seeking time for a party delegation to meet him.
In his letter, Kharge also attached a copy of the representation submitted to ECI filed by party candidate Boudh.
"There is a clear attempt to interfere with the integrity of the election, and it must be stopped/redressed by the ECI immediately. Furthermore, no disqualification of our legitimate voters/votes cast can be allowed in what is clearly a transparent attempt to taint/derail the process," the letter said.
"Given the time-sensitive nature of the matter, we request time immediately for a delegation led by Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, along with senior leaders from the party to meet your good self before the declaration of the results," it said.
The Indian National Lok Dal, which has two members in the 90-member Haryana Assembly, had abstained from voting, with party leaders Abhay Singh Chautala and Aditya Devi Lal saying they had decided to do so in the interest of the people.
The BJP has 48 MLAs, the Congress has 37, the INLD has two MLAs, and three legislators are Independents in the 90-member Haryana assembly.
The Congress MLAs who had been moved to Himachal ahead of the polling returned to Chandigarh shortly after the polling commenced at 9 am.
Haryana Minister Anil Vij, who had recently fractured both his legs after a fall, arrived in a wheelchair to cast his vote.
Ahead of the polling, the Congress had moved its MLAs to Kufri in Himachal on Friday.
Nandal's candidature was proposed by three independents – Savitri Jindal, Rajesh Joon, and Devender Kadyan – and seven BJP MLAs.
The two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana fell vacant as BJP members Kiran Choudhry and Ram Chander Jangra are set to complete their terms on April 9.
Nandal had lost to Congress leader Hooda from the Garhi-Sampla-Kiloi constituency in Rohtak district in the 2019 assembly polls. Before joining the BJP, he was also with the INLD.
BJP candidate Bhatia is a former Lok Sabha MP from Karnal.
Congress's Boudh, a retired Haryana government employee, has been a Dalit activist who has raised issues pertaining to the community on various platforms.
Currently, Boudh, who is the coordinator of the National Scheduled Castes Department of the Congress, is believed to be the choice of party leader Rahul Gandhi.