Twin test for BJP in Hryana: RS poll must win to save govt

CHANDIGARH: The Lok Sabha polls over, all eyes in Haryana are now on a single-seat Rajya Sabha byelection necessitated by Deepender Singh Hooda’s being elected to Parliament from Rohtak. The BJP is in an extra careful hunt for a candidate because coming into minority after the death of Badshahpur legislator Rakesh Daultabad has put it in a must-win situation.
The BJP searches for a local candidate where it had suffered a defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. The floor situation demands a new poll arithmetic because the 90-member assembly house is now reduced to 87 after Mullana’s Congress MLA Varun Chaudhary had to resign upon becoming Ambala’s MP.
The BJP with 41 MLAs and support of two legislators — independent Nayan Pal Rawat and Gopal Kanda of the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) — has 43 seats, while the opposition has 44 — counting 29 MLAs of the Congress, 10 of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), three independents (Randhir Gollan, Dharam Pal Gondar, and Somvir Sangwan) who pulled the rug from under the govt, fourth independent Balraj Kundu, and Abhay Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
In case of an immediate floor test, Nayab Singh Saini’s state govt runs the risk of falling by a solitary vote. So, a win or defeat in the Rajya Sabha election could decide its fate. Even as two of the JJP legislators have pledged to save the BJP govt and another two are reported to have worked for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, the govt waits for the Rajya Sabha to declare the seat vacant, since there is no provision for the resignation of a member elected to the Lok Sabha. Experts claim that Deepender ceases to be member automatically after the notification of the MPs or whenever they take oath in the Lok Sabha. The MLAs who become MPs get 15 days to hand over their resignation from the assembly to the respective state’s speaker once the parliamentary secretariat has notified them as MP. Reminded why a candidate’s choice was critical, a senior member of the BJP said: “Our core committee as well as high command are aware. We will declare the nominee at appropriate time.” During his media interaction here, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also kept the Congress cards close to his chest.