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New Delhi/Chandigarh: The political controversy surrounding the recent Haryana Rajya Sabha election intensified on Wednesday after the Indian National Congress publicly named four of its MLAs accused of cross-voting, exposing internal divisions within the party.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Haryana Congress in-charge B. K. Hariprasad said that Shelly Choudhary, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Israil and Renubala had voted in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party during the election. Hariprasad said disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against the legislators and show-cause notices would be issued to them.

Allegations of Pressure and Manipulation

The Congress leader alleged that the election process had been influenced by “money, muscle power and institutional pressure”, claiming that several votes were deliberately declared invalid to affect the outcome.

Drawing parallels with the 2016 Rajya Sabha election controversy in Haryana, Hariprasad said a similar pattern had emerged this time.

He alleged that despite not having sufficient numbers in the Assembly, the BJP backed a second candidate as an Independent to undermine the Congress nominee, who belonged to the Dalit community. Hariprasad said he personally examined the ballot papers along with senior Congress leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. “We had 37 votes, but five or six were declared invalid. After examining the ballots, we confirmed that four MLAs had cross-voted,” he said.

Close Contest for Second Seat

Voting for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana was held on Monday. While BJP candidate Sanjay Bhatia secured one seat, Congress candidate Karamvir Boudh narrowly won the other seat in a close contest against BJP-backed Independent candidate Satish Nandal.

Protest Within Congress

The issue had triggered internal dissent within the Congress earlier, with party MLA Gokul Setia staging a protest outside the party office in Chandigarh, demanding that the names of the cross-voting legislators be disclosed.

The protest was later withdrawn after intervention by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who assured that the matter would be taken up with the party leadership. The Congress leadership has said that strict action will be taken against the MLAs found guilty of violating the party line, asserting that there will be no compromise on party discipline.