Rajya Sabha elections in Rajasthan: Congress, BJP move EC, cite ‘horse-trading bids’
The BJP wrote to the Enforcement Directorate as well, misuse of government machinery and resources and phone tapping of opposition MLAs by the state government.
The ruling Congress and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajasthan on Wednesday wrote to the Election Commission (EC) over alleged attempts of horse trading and corrupt practices ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections on June 10.
The BJP also wrote to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), alleging misuse of government machinery and resources and phone tapping of opposition MLAs by the state and sought an impartial probe into the matter.
Elections to 57 seats in the Upper House of Parliament, spread across 15 states and Union territories, are slated to be held on Friday. Four of these seats are from Rajasthan.
In his letter to the CEC, Congress MLA and chief whip of state assembly Mahesh Joshi sought registration of a first information report (FIR) against media baron and independent candidate Subhash Chandra, who is being supported by the BJP, BJP state president Satish Poonia, leader of BJP legislature party Gulab Chand Kataria and other leaders.
Joshi alleged that the Congress has 126 votes against the 123 which is required to win three seats while Chandra has 33 votes and is short of 8 MLAs to gain victory. However, at a press conference on Tuesday, Chandra claimed he will get the additional eight votes he needs to win the polls, Joshi said.
The ruling Congress, with 108 MLAs in the assembly, is set to win two of the four seats outright and the BJP is set to win one.
The Congress will then have 26 surplus votes, but 15 short of the required 41 to win the third seat. The BJP, which has 71 MLAs, will be left with 30 surplus votes after securing its seat.
There are 13 independents in the assembly, with the Communist Party of India (CPI) having two seats, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) three, the Bharatiya Tribal Party two, and the Rashtriya Lok Dal one.
Congress leaders claim the support of 126 MLAs – 108 of the Congress, BTP, CPM and RLD.
The Congress has fielded three candidates – Mukul Wasnik, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Pramod Tiwari. The BJP has named former state minister Ghanshyam Tiwari as its candidate and has decided to support independent Chandra’s candidature.
The 10 proposers required for Chandra’s nomination are BJP MLAs from the state and not a single independent MLA has approved his nomination so far, people familiar with the matter said.
On June 2, the Congress moved its Rajasthan MLAs to hotels in Udaipur and Raipur in Chhattisgarh, which is also ruled by the party. While some were shifted to a luxury hotel in Udaipur, where the party had held its ‘Chintan Shivir’ (brainstorming session) last month, others were flown to Raipur on a charter plane and sent to a hotel on the outskirts of the city.
“It is my guess that eight MLAs will cross-vote. They will cross-vote not because they have affection towards Chandra but due to the behaviour of the government and the kind of humiliation,” Chandra had said on Tuesday.
Referring to these remarks, Joshi alleged that “Chandra and BJP are making a malicious conspiracy to win a Rajya Sabha seat forcibly by horse trading, money-force and intimidation of central government agencies such as ED, CBI and Income Tax”.
“The BJP and Chandra are arrogantly claiming cross voting of MLAs. Now the BJP are threatening ED and Income Tax. It is clear that this is a legal offense and taking cognizance of this, the Election Commission and the police have to take necessary constitutional and legal action against the Rajasthan BJP president, Rajasthan BJP Legislature Party leader, BJP supported independent candidate, Subhash Chandra and other BJP leaders and criminally prosecute them,” he said.
The BJP also accused the Congress of trying to indulge in horse trading and wrote to the ED, alleging use of black money in the elections.
In his letter to the EC, leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria, state president Satish Poonia, and deputy leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore accused the ruling party of misusing government machinery and resources to intimidate the MLAs.
A few disgruntled MLAs were openly giving statements against the state government until recently when they were taken to Udaipur on a chartered plane with chief minister Ashok Gehlot, the BJP leaders alleged.
“Misusing the government machinery, through ACB (anti-corruption bureau), the phone of MLAs in opposition and office bearers are taped. The state plane is being misused,” they said.
On Sunday, the ruling party had approached the ACB, urging the body to stay alert and prevent any attempts of horse trading ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.
The opposition party also alleged use of black money in the Udaipur hotel where the Congress has shifted some of its MLAs, and sought action against them to ensure free and fair elections.
On Monday, several BJP MLAs were shifted to a resort along the Jaipur-Agra highway for a “training camp” by the party.
On BJP’s letter to the ED, Joshi said: “The BJP and Chandra are trying to win the seat by misusing central agencies such as the ED. Therefore, a complaint was sent to ED by the party,” he said.
