RS polls cross-voting: Haryana Cong disciplinary panel recommends suspension of 5 MLAs
Chandigarh: Haryana Congress’ Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC) recommended suspension of the five party MLAs who allegedly cross-voted during last month’s Rajya Sabha elections.
After the committee met here on Friday evening, its chairman, Dharampal Malik, had told mediapersons that the panel would prepare a report and convey its decision to the party high command concerning the issue of alleged cross-voting by five party MLAs in favour of BJP-backed Independent candidate Satish Nandal.
According to party sources on Sunday, the committee has recommended suspension of the legislators after examining their responses to show-cause notices.
Earlier, the Congress issued a show-cause notice to its five legislators from Haryana for alleged cross-voting.
The showcause was served for “anti-party activities by deliberately not casting a vote in favour of Congress’s official candidate...”. Polling for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana was held on March 16.
BJP’s Sanjay Bhatia won a seat comfortably, while the Congress candidate, Karamvir Singh Boudh, secured the second seat in a close contest against Independent candidate Satish Nandal.
The alleged cross-voting by five Congress MLAs dented the otherwise comfortable position of the party for securing an easy victory. Four of the Congress’s votes were also declared invalid during counting.
The party had named five legislators – Naraingarh MLA Shalli Chaudhary, Sadhaura MLA Renu Bala, Punhana MLA Mohammad Illyas, Hathin MLA Mohammad Israil and Ratia legislator Jarnail Singh suspected of defying the official line.
Shalli Chaudhary, Renu Bala and Jarnail Singh had later denied the allegations, saying their names were being dragged into the controversy unnecessarily and maintained that they had voted for the party candidate.
When contacted over the phone on Sunday, Dharampal Malik, without going into the specifics of what has been recommended by the DAC, said, “We have sent our report to State president Rao Narender Singh, party general secretary in charge B K Hariprasad and party senior leader K C Venugopal”.
“We have explained the situation and given complete details of the circumstances from the very beginning to the end. We finalised our report, and a decision (on what action is to be taken against the five MLAs) will be taken by the party,” Malik told news agency.
Earlier, only Chaudhary, Bala and Jarnail Singh replied to the show-cause notice.
Recently, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was the party’s authorised agent to see the marked ballot of his party legislators, had said the five party legislators accused of cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana should resign on moral grounds.
The former chief minister also said that more than the party, these five MLAs have betrayed the people who elected them.
Earlier, in an effort to prevent being influenced, the Congress shifted its MLAs to a heavily guarded resort in Himachal Pradesh ahead of the polls. The MLAs returned to Chandigarh on the day of polling to cast their votes.
