- By Talibuddin Khan
- Tue, 27 Feb 2024 03:14 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Himachal Rajya Sabha Elections: The polling for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh ended on Tuesday amid buzz over cross-voting in the crucial polls ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024. The voting began at 9 am today and all 68 members of the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly voted during the poll.
The Rajya Sabha election in Himachal Pradesh has proved to be a big challenge for the ruling Congress after the main opposition BJP fielded turncoat and three-time MLA Harsh Mahajan as its candidate. Mahajan is facing a challenge from senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who has been tagged as an outsider by the BJP.
Mahajan is a popular face in the state and has played a crucial role in strengthening Congress at the grassroots for 10 long years. He was known for his long proximity with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu. However, Mahajan left the Congress and joined the BJP just ahead of the assembly elections by saying the previous party was directionless and lacking vision.
According to the numbers in the Legislative Assembly, the Congress has a comfortable majority of 40 in the 68-member House. The BJP has a strength of 25 legislators, while there are three Independent legislators, comprising two BJP rebels and one Congress, who have indicated support for the ruling party.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu after casting his vote said the MLAs have voted as per the ideology of the party. "We have 40 MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha and unless MLAs are bought off, we will get all the votes," he said. Meanwhile, Harsh Mahajan has said that he will win the polls and the Sukhu-led Congress government will fall in the state.
As per media reports, all eyes in this poll are on two legislators -- Rajinder Rana and former cabinet minister Sudhir Sharma -- who have been "gunning" their government for its failure to fulfil poll promises. Sujanpur legislator Rana and Dharamsala legislator Sharma were strong candidates for ministerial berths but they were deliberately sidelined owing to intra-party squabbles.
Meanwhile, the Congress had issued a whip to its MLAs to vote for Singhvi following which the BJP had accused the ruling Congress of issuing a whip to their members to pressurise them and maintained that the MLAs have been elected democratically and have the right to vote as per their wish.
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The BJP candidate has sent a complaint to the chief election commissioner drawing his attention to the three-line whip issued by the Congress to vote for the party candidate. In his complaint, Mahajan said that such a whip is not only unethical but also against the conducting of elections to the Rajya Sabha as it will affect the decision-making ability of the MLAs.
(With Agencies Inputs)
