The incident is of the 2016 Rajya Sabha elections. In Haryana, BJP had supported Subhash Chandra from outside as an independent. Congress and INLD had fielded Supreme Court lawyer RK Anand. The figures were not in favor of Subhash Chandra, but the votes of 14 Congress MLAs were rejected for using the wrong pen. Anand filed a petition in the court alleging rigging, on which the case is still going on. If we look at the maths of enrollment, it seems that Haryana, Maharashtra are showing signs of being a game like 2016.
Ajay Maken filed his nomination papers on behalf of Congress on the last day for the elections to two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana. Krishnalal Panwar has filled the form on behalf of BJP. But in the midst of all this, Karthik, son of former minister Vinod Sharma, has also announced to field as an independent candidate. Ajay Chautala’s JJP has also announced support to him. This has made the contest interesting and it is expected to be a big game in this election.
In Haryana Assembly, BJP has 40 MLAs and Congress has 31 MLAs. The Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) has 10 MLAs. There are seven independent MLAs, one INLD MLA and one MLA from Halopa. Till now, one BJP and one Congress were supposed to meet in the elections of two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana. But with the entry of Karthik Sharma, son of former Congress Congressman Vinod Sharma, problems may arise for Ajay Maken of Congress. Karthik may get support from BJP. BJP will have extra votes even after winning its candidate. Along with JJP, independent MLAs can also support Karthik. Karthik claims that he has 27 MLAs with him.
All 10 MLAs of Jannayak Janta Party will support independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma for the Rajya Sabha seat of Haryana. We are hopeful that he will garner the required votes to win: Dr Ajay Singh Chautala, National President, Jannayak Janata Party pic.twitter.com/qdxFZzsMNQ
— ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2022
A candidate needs 31 votes to win in Haryana Rajya Sabha election. Karthik’s lottery can open if one Congress candidate also cross-voted or three MLAs are absent or three votes become invalid. However, Congress’s Haryana in-charge Vivek Bansal says that it is the good fortune of Congress that someone like Ajay Maken is with us. Entire Congress party supports this decision. BJP should be worried about its alliance with JJP.
Chances of big game in Maharashtra too
Three BJP candidates, including Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Congress’ Imran Pratapgarhi and NCP’s Praful Patel filed their nominations on Monday for the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections. This set the stage for a close contest for the sixth seat in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena has fielded two candidates Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Panwar. BJP can win two seats on its own. Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP can win one seat each. The three parties involved in the MVA will have additional votes even after winning another seat. Shiv Sena is dependent on these votes to win its second seat.
To win the Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra, every candidate needs to get 42 votes. At present Aghadi has 169 MLAs. Shiv Sena has 55, NCP 54, Congress 44, other smaller parties involved in Aghadi and 8 independent MLAs are with Aghadi. Shiv Sena has 13 of its votes to win the sixth candidate. If it gets the votes of 12 NCP, 2 Congress and 8 independent MLAs from other smaller parties involved in Aghadi and 8 independents, the total additional votes of Aghadi is 43.
The BJP camp has 113 MLAs. In such a situation, BJP can easily win its two candidates. But if BJP fights for the third seat, it will have to garner 13 additional votes. The Rajya Sabha is elected by open voting. In this, the chances of breaking the legislators are negligible. But the risk of break-up of independent legislators remains.
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Devendra Fadnavis said that we had three Rajya Sabha seats, so we have decided to send three candidates to Rajya Sabha again. If Shiv Sena feels that there is no horse-trading of MLAs, then they should withdraw one of their candidates. All our candidates are from Maharashtra, all are politically active. That is why, I am sure some people will use their discretion and vote for our candidate.