Congress alleges BJP planning for horse trading in Himachal as polls for lone Rajya Seat get underway

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh is bracing for a tight contest for the lone Rajya Sabha seat. The Congress candidate is senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi while the BJP has put up former Congress MLA Harsh Mahajan for the seat.

On Monday, the BJP nominee complained to the Chief Election Commissioner saying that the Congress has issued a three-line whip to its MLAs for the polls, which he said was unethical.

“Such a whip is not only unethical but also against the conducting of elections to the Rajya Sabha as it will affect the decision making ability of the MLAs,” Harsh Mahajan said in his complaint.

Afte the complaint was filed the Congress hit out at the BJP, state minister Harsh Wardhan Chauhan said that the charges to the poll body were a result of ‘frustration’ in the BJP.

Harsh Wardhan Chauhan, Himachal Pradesh Minister alleged that the BJP is planning for “horse trading”.

“This is BJP’s frustration because the number of MLAs is not in favour of the BJP. 40 MLAs are with Congress and 3 are independent. BJP only has 25 MLAs. …even without numbers, BJP is fielding their candidate, which means they’re planning horse trading…” Chauhan said.

Harsh Mahajan is a three-time Congress MLA and former minister who had resigned from the party in September 2022 ahead of the Assembly polls and joined the BJP.

Congress had on Sunday issued whip to its MLAs to vote for party candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Notably, following the whip, all the candidates will have to show the ballot to the authorised agent who can declare a vote invalid if any MLA refuses to show the ballot.

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 far behind in the number game, it has forced a contest by fielding Mahajan against Singhvi.

Polling for one Rajya Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh will take place on Tuesday.