Chandigarh, March 9 With the deadline for withdrawing nominations for the two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana ending on Monday, the BJP, Congress, and an Independent candidate are in the running for the May 16 polls.
BJP's Sanjay Bhatia, Congress' Karamvir Singh Boudh, and Independent candidate Satish Nandal are contesting, officials said.
The two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana are set to fall vacant. BJP members Kiran Choudhry and Ram Chander Jangra are set to complete their terms on April 9.
Nandal, who unsuccessfully contested the 2019 assembly polls as a BJP nominee, filed his nomination as an Independent on Thursday, becoming the third contestant after Sanjay Bhatia and Karamvir Singh Boudh.
With Nandal entering the fray, the polls are set to witness a competitive contest.
The ruling BJP has 48 MLAs, Congress has 37, the INLD has two MLAs, and there are three Independent legislators in the 90-member Haryana assembly, with a requirement of 31 votes each for two candidates to reach the Rajya Sabha from Haryana.
The Congress, with 37 members in the Assembly, has the necessary strength to help its candidate win a seat. However, this could be jeopardized by cross-voting.
Polling will be held on March 16 between 9 am and 4 pm, and votes will be counted from 5 pm on the same day.
When asked if he was still with the BJP, Nandal told reporters on March 12 that he holds the position of the state vice president in the party.
Nandal would need 17 second preference votes from the BJP, three votes from the Independent MLAs, two votes from the Indian National Lok Dal, and at least eight votes from the Congress legislators to win.
While filing his nomination papers on Thursday, Nandal was accompanied by Independent MLAs Savitri Jindal, Rajesh Joon, and Devender Kadyan. These three MLAs are supporting the Nayab Singh Saini government in Haryana.
When asked if he was banking on some Congress MLAs to cross-vote in his favour, Nandal had earlier told reporters, "I have entered the contest as an Independent, and I will approach everyone for votes; the rest is up to them. Fighting an election is everyone's right, and I am fighting this election under that constitutional right."
Despite Nandal's entry, state Congress chief Rao Narender Singh said, "We will comfortably win our seat. We have more than the required vote strength."
Nandal 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 also with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
BJP's Bhatia (58), a former Lok Sabha MP from Karnal, is considered a confidant of Union minister and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
Congress' 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 reportedly the choice of party leader Rahul Gandhi.
The INLD, which has two MLAs, has yet to decide on whom to support in the upcoming polls.
