Haryana Rajya Sabha poll: Buzz over Gopal Kanda’s possible independent bid

With the final date for filing nominations to two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana approaching, political buzz is growing around the possibility of Gopal Kanda entering the fray as an independent candidate.

Kanda, a former Minister of State in the erstwhile Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has moved closer to the ruling BJP in the state over the past year.

As per the current numbers in the Haryana Assembly, both the BJP and the Congress are in a position to win one seat each out of the two.

A candidate requires 31 first-preference votes to win. The BJP has 48 MLAs, while the Congress has 37.

However, the Congress camp is wary of Kanda entering the contest as an independent and is putting safeguards in place to prevent any attempt to create confusion.

Congress leaders believe the BJP may try to disrupt the Haryana contest by backing Kanda’s candidature, even though the Congress has the numbers to secure one of the two seats.

“We have the numbers but we are preparing for all machinations by the BJP,” a senior Congress leader said.

Both the Congress and the BJP are still formalising their nominees March 5 is the last date for filing nominations, while polling is scheduled for March 16.

The two seats are falling vacant as the terms of BJP leaders Ram Chander Jangra and Kiran Choudhry come to an end.