Amid concerns of possible poaching ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections in Haryana, the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) on Monday deferred a decision on shifting its MLAs to a location outside the state.

The issue was discussed during a meeting of the CLP held at the office of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee in Sector 9 here. Of the party’s 37 MLAs in the Assembly, 32 attended the meeting.

The legislators are scheduled to meet again on March 13 over dinner, when a decision on shifting them outside the state may be taken.

Congress needs 31 first-preference votes for its candidate Karamvir Singh Boudh to secure victory. However, Independent candidate Satish Nandal, who is backed by the BJP, is banking on cross-voting from Congress MLAs.

Among those absent from Monday’s meeting were Vinesh Phogat, Kuldeep Vats, Bharat Singh Beniwal, Aditya Surjewala and Chander Mohan. Party incharge BK Hariprasad and state Congress chief Rao Narender Singh were present.

Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda asserted that the party was united.

“The Congress is completely united for the Rajya Sabha elections. Congress has 37 MLAs, and all will vote for the party's candidate, Karamvir Singh Boudh. The BJP has two candidates, and whether one of them will win will be known on March 16,” he said.

He added that if cross-voting occurred, it would be within the BJP.

Rao Narender Singh said the meeting primarily discussed the party’s role during the ongoing budget session of the Assembly and denied reports that Congress MLAs were being moved out of Haryana.

“I hope the INLD will not become the BJP’s B-team. They will support the Congress candidate, and it is expected that the Congress candidate will get 39 votes,” he said.

Polling for two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana is scheduled for March 16. The BJP’s Sanjay Bhatia is expected to win comfortably as the party has 48 MLAs. The contest for the second seat will be between Boudh and Nandal.

Congress has faced cross-voting in previous Rajya Sabha elections as well. In 2022, its candidate Ajay Maken lost the election. At that time, the party had moved its MLAs to Chhattisgarh. Party MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi had cross-voted, while Congress accused Kiran Choudhry of casting an invalid vote.

Earlier, in 2016, the “ink controversy” led to the invalidation of 12 votes marked with different ink, resulting in the defeat of Congress-backed Independent candidate RK Anand.