New Delhi, March 17 Opposition MPs on Tuesday alleged large-scale 'horse-trading' and misuse of power by the BJP following the results of the Rajya Sabha elections across several states, while the party dismissed the charges, blaming internal dissent within the Congress.
Reacting to the outcome, Congress MP Ujjwal Raman Singh accused the ruling party of undermining democratic norms during the elections.
“The result has come, whatever the outcome, but what is truly sad is the way the Bharatiya Janata Party acted. There are large-scale allegations of buying votes and turning the Rajya Sabha elections into a marketplace. They have undermined democracy and trampled all rules and decorum. Where is the dignity they always claimed to uphold?” Singh told IANS.
RJD MP Sudhakar Singh also alleged that the BJP resorted to money power and political manipulation in states where it did not have adequate numbers.
“At the national level, Bihar is also part of it, as are Haryana, Odisha and several other states. In places where the Union government led by the BJP did not have sufficient numbers, people still fought the Rajya Sabha elections. They engaged in horse-trading, misused money and manipulated the process,” he said.
Congress MP Varun Chaudhary echoed similar concerns, alleging that the BJP tries to gain power even when it lacks the required numerical strength.
“The BJP does not believe in democracy. Even when they lack numbers, they still try to come to power through the use of authority. In Haryana also, this shows how power was misused,” he said.
Another Congress MP, Amar Singh, alleged that the ruling party attempted to influence Opposition legislators.
“This is the BJP’s model. Everywhere they tried to buy off the Opposition, intimidate them and manipulate outcomes. Look at the condition of counting in Haryana — how long does it take to count 90 seats? In Odisha as well, they tried this everywhere,” he said.
Congress MP Manish Tewari said the developments raised serious questions about political morality and called for revisiting the anti-defection law.
“It’s unfortunate that political morality has sunk to another low. People no longer respect the political party that put them in office. The time has come to seriously reconsider the anti-defection law because these allegations of horse-trading in every election — what was once a retail activity — has now become a mega-scale operation,” Tewari said.
However, BJP MP Manan Kumar Mishra rejected the allegations and blamed the Congress for failing to manage its own legislators.
“Congress is unable to manage its own internal affairs. Congress MLAs themselves abstained. In such a situation, you may blame the BJP as much as you want. If the MLAs are dissatisfied and did not participate in the Rajya Sabha election, then what can the BJP do about it? Certainly, the BJP will benefit from this, and it has benefited as well,” Mishra said.
In the Rajya Sabha elections, the NDA won all five seats in Bihar, while in Odisha the NDA secured three seats and the BJD won one. In Haryana, the BJP and the Congress won one seat each.
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