Ajay Maken Was "Pawn" In Deeper Conspiracy: Haryana MLA Kiran Choudhry

Haryana Congress MLA Kiran Choudhry has termed a remark made by party general secretary Ajay Maken on his Rajya Sabha election defeat "childish", saying he is a "pawn" in a deeper conspiracy.

The script for Mr Maken's defeat was written the day Kartikeya Sharma became an independent candidate backed by the BJP-JJP combine for the Rajya Sabha seat from the state, Ms Chaudhry said in an interview with PTI on Wednesday.

She also questioned why the BJP did not field a candidate when Deependra Hooda contested the Rajya Sabha elections and why there was no "ink scandal" then.

Mr Maken has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against Mr Sharma's victory in last month's Rajya Sabha polls.

Speaking to reporters outside the court complex on Monday, Mr Maken said, "When Kiran Choudhry came out after casting her vote, she herself said she had put a 'tick mark' against the candidate's name. We had seen the ballot number on which the tick mark was put and also checked its serial number, and hence, there is no doubt that the rejected vote belonged to Kiran Choudhry."

In a dig at All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Haryana Vivek Bansal, Mr Maken had said that the party's authorised polling agent for the Rajya Sabha polls, who was shown every single vote, maintained until last that "we got 30 single preference votes, whereas only 29 single preference votes were cast".

"Kiran Chaudhry's mistake and our party's authorised agent's mistake at the same time seem statistically impossible. So, they have to admit who made a mistake and who did it intentionally, because both cannot make a mistake at the same time," Mr Maken had added.

Reacting to the remark, Ms Choudhry said, "What Maken has said is very stupid and childish. It is clear that he is being coached. He does not understand that he is becoming the mouthpiece of the very people who conspired against him. He is a senior leader, it would have been better if he had raised this issue on the party's platform." "This is not the first but the third time that such a conspiracy has taken shape in Haryana. Everyone knows who is doing this conspiracy. This has been going on since 2004," the Tosham legislator said.

"I was made to lose the 2004 Rajya Sabha election under a conspiracy in which one vote was cancelled. My petition is still pending in the Supreme Court. Till today, I do not know whose vote was cancelled. Similarly, in 2016, the 'ink scandal' happened. The pen itself was replaced. Congress candidate R K Anand went everywhere, but still it is not known who did it." Ms Choudhry, former leader of opposition in the Haryana Assembly, said, "It is all part of a conspiracy, and he (Maken) is a pawn in it. The script to defeat him was written the same day Kartikeya Sharma was made the BJP-backed independent candidate." Without naming former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Ms Choudhry questioned, "When Deepender Hooda ji contests elections, why doesn't the BJP field a candidate? Why is there no 'ink scandal'? Why does all this happen when someone else comes?" Rejecting the charge levelled against her, the legislator said, "I am with the party. I have shed blood and sweat for the party for 37 years. Will I do all this now at this age?" "Sonia Gandhi ji is my leader, everyone knows. I am so outspoken because I am bound up with my leader and party," she added.

"All this happened with Selja ji, Randeep Surjewala, Kuldeep Bishnoi, and now it is happening with me," Ms Choudhry claimed. 

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