Himachal Pradesh is gearing up for a close contest for the lone Rajya Sabha seat. The Congress candidate is senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, while the BJP has fielded former Congress MLA Harsh Mahajan for the seat.
On Monday, a BJP candidate complained to the Chief Election Commissioner and said the Congress had given its MLAs a triple whip for polls, which he said was unethical.
"Such a whip is not only unethical but also against the conduct of Rajya Sabha elections as it will affect the decision-making power of MLAs," Harsh Mahajan said in his complaint.
After the complaint was filed, the Congress hit out at the BJP, with state minister Harsh Wardhan Chauhan saying the election body's allegations were a result of "frustration" in the BJP.
Harsh Wardhan Chauhan, Himachal Pradesh minister, alleged that the BJP was planning "horse-trading". "This is BJP's frustration as the number of MLAs is not in favour of BJP. 40 MLAs are with Congress and 3 are independent. BJP has only 25 MLAs. ...even without numbers, BJP is fielding its candidate which means 'I plan to horse trade …” said Chauhan.
Harsh Mahajan is a three-time Congress MLA and former minister who resigned from the party in September 2022 ahead of the parliamentary polls and joined the BJP.
The Congress on Sunday issued a whip to its MLAs to vote for party candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Notably, after the whip, all candidates will have to show the ballot paper to an authorized representative, who can declare the vote invalid if any MLA refuses to show the ballot paper.
The Congress has a clear majority with 40 out of 68 MLAs and the support of three independent MLAs. Despite the fact that the BJP with 25 MLAs is way behind in the numbers game, it forced a contest by pitting Mahajan against Singhvi.
Voting for one Rajya Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh will be held today.
