Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], March 19 : Haryana Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, along with Congress Legislature Party (CLP) members, wrote a letter to Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, alleging serious irregularities in the recently concluded Rajya Sabha elections in the state.
In the letter, Congress leaders claimed that the election process was compromised and described it as a "mockery of democracy," alleging that free and fair electoral norms were undermined during the polling and counting process.
The Congress stated that while the Haryana Assembly has 90 members, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party holding 48 seats and Congress 37, the second Rajya Sabha contest became controversial after BJP-backed independent candidate Satish Nandal entered the fray despite lacking the required numbers for victory.
The opposition alleged that the ruling party resorted to political pressure, inducements, and misuse of government machinery to secure support for the independent candidate. The letter further claimed that horse-trading and undue influence were used during the election process.
Congress also accused Returning Officer Pankaj Aggarwal of acting in a partisan manner. According to the letter, valid objections raised by Congress polling agents were ignored, and certain votes were allegedly handled in a way that favoured BJP and the independent candidate.
The opposition leaders urged the Governor to take cognisance of what they described as undemocratic and unethical conduct and sought disciplinary action against the Returning Officer for his alleged role in the election.
The letter has been signed by Hooda along with several Congress MLAs, escalating the political confrontation over the Rajya Sabha election outcome in Haryana.
Earlier, Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the result of the Rajya Sabha from Haryana was a victory for democracy and a defeat for vote theft.
Hooda said, "The issue of vote theft that was raised during the assembly elections has now been proven. From the beginning, it was being said that out of the two seats, one belonged to Congress according to the majority, and one to BJP. By fielding a third candidate, BJP made a full attempt at vote theft, but our MLAs foiled it. This victory is not just Congress's, but a victory of the trust of the people of the state."
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