Rajya Sabha polls: BJP's Sanjay Bhatia, Congress's Karamvir Boudh elected; Haryana CM congratulates

Chandigarh: BJP's Sanjay Bhatia and Congress party's Karamvir Singh Boudh have been declared elected to two Rajya Sabha seats in keenly watched elections as developments unfolded over allegations of violation of vote secrecy.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, in a late-night press conference, congratulated both the leaders on their win.

Calling the elections interesting, Saini slammed the Congress, accusing it of holding its MLAs captive and transferring them to different places, referring to the shifting of Congress legislators from Himachal Pradesh.

"I have seen for the first time that Congress did not trust its MLAs", he claimed.

The Congress is "finished", and it has "no future", Saini said.

The chief minister also lashed out at the INLD for abstaining from voting and said it acted as a "B team" of the Congress.

The INLD indirectly supported the Congress, he claimed.

Replying to a question on the Independent candidate, Saini said, "How could they stop anyone from contesting the poll?" Counting of votes, which were to take place at 5 pm after voting ended at 4 pm, began following a delay of over five hours after the Congress and the BJP lodged their respective complaints of violation of vote secrecy.

Congress MLA and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that his party nominee Boudh has won.

"It is our victory", he said while speaking to reporters here.

"This is a victory of 'Prajatantar' and defeat of 'vote chori'," said Hooda as he, along with other party leaders, showed victory signs.

Hooda said that from the beginning, one seat each belonged to Congress and the BJP.

But they tried for "vote theft" for the third candidate, Hooda alleged. He added that the conduct of the returning officer was partisan.

Boudh thanked the party leadership and Hooda for getting elected.

Meanwhile, Haryana Minister Gaurav Gautam had also said earlier that their party nominee Sanjay Bhatia had won.

Officials said five votes were declared invalid -- four of Congress and one of the BJP.

BJP's Bhatia, Karamvir Singh Boudh of the Congress and Independent candidate Satish Nandal were in the fray for the two seats. The BJP backed Nandal, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 assembly polls as its nominee. The INLD's two MLAs abstained from voting.

Speaking to reporters, BJP's Bhatia claimed that five Congress MLAs did cross-vote.

Before the voting ended, minister Krishan Kumar Bedi had told reporters that the BJP had complained to the Election Commission pertaining to "violation of vote secrecy" of two Congress MLAs -- Bharat Singh Beniwal from Ellenabad and Paramvir Singh from Tohana.

"Two Congress MLAs did not have their ballot folded as it should have been, and violated the secrecy of their vote. We have complained to the Election Commission," Bedi said.

However, Congress leader Ashok Arora said no complaint was filed at the time these legislators voted, claiming that it was deliberately filed after 4 pm.

He further said the Congress too filed a complaint against senior BJP leader and minister Anil Vij, accusing him of violating vote secrecy.

Haryana Congress Rao Narender Singh had earlier called the allegation of violation of vote secrecy against his party MLAs wrong and said his candidate would win the election.

Congress candidate Karamvir Singh Boudh filed a complaint to the ECI against the Returning Officer for his alleged partisan conduct.

Counting of votes started after the ECI gave a go-ahead in this regard, said 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 were moved to Himachal Pradesh ahead of the polling returned to the city in the morning and exercised their vote.

Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had 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 had 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.

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 have decided to make this decision keeping in view the people's sentiments.

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 MLAs of the Congress, 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, the coordinator of the National Scheduled Castes Department of the Congress, Boudh, is learnt to be the choice of party leader Rahul Gandhi.