Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today told NDTV that the BJP will attempt horse-trading for the Rajya Sabha elections due on June 10, but his party is "prepared". The Congress MLAs have been taken to Raipur ahead of the elections, in which Ajay Maken is the candidate for the party seat.
Two seats in Haryana are up for election, one of which is set to go to the BJP. With two candidates in fray for the second, the race has started in earnest.
While Ajay Maken is the Congress candidate, the BJP has fielded Krishan Lal Panwar. The third candidate is Kartikeya Sharma, son of former Congress leader Vinod Sharma, who is contesting as an Independent.
Asked about the faultlines within the party -- in view of the entry of Kartikeya Sharma -- and the possibility of crossvoting, Mr Hooda negated it. "As far as the Congress is concerned, every MLA will vote for Congress. All 28 will. Including Bishnoi," he told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
To win in Haryana, a candidate needs 31 first preference votes -- which is the exact number of MLAs the Congress has. Losing even a single vote will lead to a defeat for the party.
The BJP has 41 MLAs and 10 MLAs are with ally JJP. The alliance also has the support of six Independent MLAs.
Mr Hooda was also upbeat about the Congress's chance in neighbouring Rajasthan -- a state ruled by the party.
Asked if the situation is "tricky" in Rajasthan, where four seats are up for polls, Mr Hooda told NDTV that the numbers are "in favour of Congress".
Of the four seats going to polls in Rajasthan, the Congress is set to bag two, with 108 MLAs in the House. After that, the party is likely to have 26 surplus votes, 15 short of the 41 needed to win the third seat. The BJP has 71 MLAs and is sure to win one seat.
Mr Hooda, however, told NDTV, "We will also get the third seat".
Earlier today, the state BJP sent its MLAs to a resort for a "training camp" . The ruling Congress has already coralled its MLAs at a hotel near Udaipur.
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