Chandigarh: The entrance of Kartikeya Sharma, the son of former Union Minister Vinod Sharma and brother of Manu Sharma who was convicted in the Jessica Lal murder case, into the fray for Rajya Sabha elections in Haryana significantly changed the political equations in the State. Along with Sharma BJP candidate former minister, Krishan Lal Panwar and Congress candidate Ajay Maken also filed nominations on Tuesday. Today is the last day for filing nominations.
Apart from Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) which proposed his name, Sharma also has the support of Independent MLAs. JJP National President Ajay Chautala said that JJP has supported Kartikeya Sharma and he will definitely win. The entry of Sharma into the fray has made it difficult for Maken to get into Rajya Sabha. Two Rajya seats in Haryana will fall vacant this year and every candidate needs to get 31 votes to go to the Upper House.
Also read: Congress trying to forge unity in Haryana team
While the victory of the BJP candidate is almost certain as he has the support of 40 MLAs, Congress has 31 MLAs required to send its candidate to the Upper House. However, Maken seems to have an uphill task ahead of him if Sharma is able to take advantage of the ongoing faction feud in Haryana Congress and get the support of a few disgruntled Congress MLAs.
Congress's 31 MLAs are divided into several factions including the one led by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Congress insiders said that several MLAs such as Kuldeep Bishnoi and Kiran Chowdhury are unhappy with the Hooda camp making it all the more difficult for Maken to emerge victorious.
The fact that even with the support of the remaining 28 MLAs-apart from those supporting Congress and BJP candidates-Sharma will not be able to make it to the Rajya Sabha unless he is able to get the support of some Congress MLAs. Congress sources said that if this happens then the faction feud in the party will be responsible for spoiling Maken's chances of going to the Upper House.
