BJP, Cong nominees file nomination for RS polls in Haryana; Satish Nandal enters contest as independent

Chandigarh, Mar 5 (PTI) Satish Nandal, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 assembly polls as a BJP nominee, on Thursday filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha polls from Haryana as an Independent, becoming the third entrant in the contest after BJP's Sanjay Bhatia and Karamvir Singh Boudh of the Congress.

Prior to Nandal, Bhatia and Boudh filed their nominations here on the last day of filing of nominations for the two seats falling vacant from Haryana.

BJP members Kiran Choudhry and Ram Chander Jangra are set to complete their terms on April 9.

With Nandal throwing his hat in the ring, the polls are set to witness an interesting contest.

In the 90-member Haryana assembly, the ruling BJP, which also enjoys the support of three independent legislators, has 48 MLAs of its own, Congress 37, the INLD has two, with 31 votes each required for the two candidates to make it to Rajya Sabha from Haryana.

While the BJP, with 48 MLAs in the 90-member assembly, has minus the independents 17 more than the 31 first preference votes on its own required for a straight win, the contest has become keen for the second seat with the entry of Nandal as an Independent.

The Congress has 37 members in the assembly, enough to help its candidate win a seat. The prospects, however, could be in jeopardy in case of cross-voting.

Scrutiny of nominations will be held on March 6, while the last date for the withdrawal of candidature is March 9. Polling will be held on March 16 between 9 am and 4 pm, and votes will be counted from 5 pm the same day.

When asked if he was banking on some Congress MLAs to cross-vote in his favour as he did not have required numbers in his favour, Nandal told reporters, "I have entered the contest as an Independent. I will approach everyone for vote, rest it is up to them... Fighting election is everyone's right and I am fighting election under that constitutional right." Not perturbed by the entry of Nandal, state Congress chief Rao Narender Singh told PTI that "we will win our seat comfortably. We have more than the required vote strength needed".

Nandal had lost to Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda from the Garhi-Sampla-Kiloi constituency in Rohtak district in the 2019 assembly polls. Prior to his joining the BJP, he was also with the Indian National Lok Dal.

On being asked whether he was still with the BJP, Nandal told reporters that he holds the position of the state vice president in the party.

BJP's Bhatia (58) is considered a confidant of Union minister and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Boudh, a retired Haryana government employee, has been a Dalit activist who has raised issues pertaining to the community on various platforms. Boudh, currently the coordinator of the National Scheduled Castes department of the Congress, is learnt to be the choice of party leader Rahul Gandhi.

While filing his nomination papers, Nandal was accompanied by Independent MLAs Savitri Jindal, Rajesh Joon and Devender Kadyan. These three MLAs are supporting the Nayab Singh Saini government in Haryana.

Sources said that in the polls, he is likely to be the second preference of those with a first preference vote for Sanjay Bhatia.

Indian National Lok Dal, which has two MLAs, is yet to take a decision on whom it may extend support in the upcoming polls.

After filing his papers, Nandal said he will approach all the MLAs, irrespective of their party affiliations, for their support.

"I will approach everyone and result will be before you on March 16 (when RS poll results are declared)," Nandal said.

Asked if he will approach Bhupinder Hooda too for the vote, Nandal quipped, "Why not. He is like an elder brother".

Kadyan said the three Independent MLAs wanted that their voice should also be heard in Delhi (at national level).

After discussing with many like-minded MLAs, we persuaded Nandal to file for nomination, said Kadyan.

Savitri Jindal also said they are supporting Nandal and want him to win, and raise their voice in Rajya Sabha.

Joon said they will seek votes from the BJP, Congress and INLD for Nandal.

We expect that he will win with maximum votes, he said.

Sanjay Bhatia was accompanied by Chief Minister Saini, Haryana BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli and other party leaders while filing his nomination.

Prior to that Bhatia met Saini at his residence here.

Saini congratulated Bhatia for being declared as the Rajya Sabha candidate.

Bhatia, while thanking the party leadership for selecting him as a Rajya Sabha candidate, said he will try to live up to the expectations of the people and his party.

Speaking to reporters before filing his nomination, Boudh thanked party leader Rahul Gandhi for showing faith in him. He was accompanied by Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, State Congress president Rao Narender Singh and Congress general secretary in-charge of Haryana B K Hariprasad.

On the last day of filing nominations, the Congress announced Boudh's name.

Surjewala said by nominating such a person to Rajya Sabha, the Congress has again proved that it not only stands by the exploited and deprived section but also gives priority to a person who is working at the ground level.

Sources said that by fielding Boudh for the Rajya Sabha polls, the party has tried to balance caste equations.

In the Congress' Haryana unit, Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Hooda comes from the Jat community while state Congress chief Rao Narender Singh is from the OBC community.

The sources said that Boudh had played an important role in protests last year in different parts of the state after the death of senior IPS officer Y Puran Kumar. He was also associated with Congress' "Samvidhan Bachao" campaign. PTI SUN VSD ZMN