14 votes declared ‘invalid’, Congress left wondering

Geetanjali Gayatri

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 11

The coming together of the Congress and the INLD to support “Independent” candidate RK Anand to keep out the BJP-backed Subhash Chandra today came a cropper with the ruling party’s candidates winning the two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana.

However, leaders of the two parties supporting Anand bore the brunt of jibes and jokes through the day for “joining hands for convenience”. BJP MLAs and ministers took turns to poke fun at the two parties for feeling “so threatened” that they had to join hands even as the Congress tried to defend itself by taking refuge in Anand’s statement that he would support the Congress and its policies in the Rajya Sabha. The INLD leadership argued that Anand was backed by the party when the Congress was nowhere in the scene.

The INLD went after the Congress all guns blazing over 14 invalid votes, rejected on the technical ground that a different ink had been used to mark the preference of candidates, while Union Minister Birender Singh, after being declared a winner, minced no words in targeting former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, also his bête noir.

“Hooda has done to Anand what he did to me while I was in the Congress,” alleged Birender, a Congressman-turned-BJP leader.

The Congress, however, refused to take the blame, saying it had voted according to the directions of the party leadership and the “invalid” votes were not of its MLAs.

“In the morning, Congress MLA Randeep Surjewala raised the matter of different pens being used to cast vote. We came to cast vote in the afternoon. By that time, the matter had been resolved. All our pens and mobile phones were taken away at the entry, leaving no scope for the use of a different pen. As far as opposing Anand is concerned, once the party high command directed us, we followed the party line,” Congress MLA Karan Dalal.

The BJP, its leaders and ministers rejoiced over the “unexpected” turn of events after 14 votes were declared “invalid” and it became almost clear that Subhash Chandra would win, while the Congress leadership stayed away from the venue of counting.