Raipur: Amid fears of cross-voting on June 10 Rajya Sabha polls, the main opposition Congress in Haryana on Thursday shifted its MLAs to the party-ruled Chhattisgarh to protect them from `poaching' attempts. The legislators arrived at the Swami Vivekanand Airport in Raipur in the evening by a special flight and proceeded to a resort in Nava Raipur in two buses, a party leader here said.
They were accompanied by the party's Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana Deepender Hooda. The legislators arrived at the residence of Hooda in Delhi earlier in the day and left for Raipur from the national capital, the local leader said. As many as 27 Congress legislators from the northern state arrived here, sources said.
Two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana will fall vacant in August as the terms of media baron Subhash Chandra, elected as an independent with the BJP's support, and BJP leader Dushyant Gautam, will expire.
The ruling BJP has fielded Krishan Lal Panwar for one of the two seats while Congress has fielded Ajay Maken. With the entry of a third candidate - Kartikeya Sharma - as an Independent, the Congress does not want to leave anything to chance in order to secure one Rajya Sabha seat. Given the numerical strength in the state assembly, the BJP is set to win one seat.
Read: RS polls: Around 40 Rajasthan Cong MLAs, some Independents leave for Udaipur hotel
BJP ally Jannayak Janta Party has already said that its 10 MLAs will support Sharma. The JJP had also expressed hope that Sharma would be able to get the necessary support for his victory. In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the BJP has 40 MLAs while the Congress has 31. The JJP has 10 legislators while the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Lokhit Party one each and seven are Independents.
Though the Congress is confident that its candidate Ajay Maken will not face any problem in his victory, the party sources said that the cross-voting on the polling day could not be ruled out. For the first seat, the BJP candidate needs support of 31 candidates and for the second seat, a candidate needs 30 votes.
Chhattisgarh Agriculture Minister Ravindra Chaubey said, We don't have any threat (during RS elections in Haryana), but the way the BJP has been murdering democracy, it is not wrong (to move Congress MLAs from Haryana to Raipur).
"There are many examples of states where Congress got majority but Amit Shah formed the government (of the BJP). So this is a precaution," he told reporters.
Chhattisgarh BJP chief Vishnu Deo Sai slammed Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, saying he has "mortgaged the honour and respect of Chhattisgarh to the Congress high command and has become 'intezaam ali' (someone who makes arrangements). Baghel has been paying the price for the chair. He has not only made Chhattisgarh an ATM of Congress, but also made the state a centre for political tourism, Sai alleged. (PTI)
