Haryana Rajya Sabha Polls: The Congress had a brief victory celebration for its leader, Ajay Maken, who the party said had won the Haryana Rajya Sabha poll. However, once the Election Commission ordered a recount, the party removed the tweet.
Earlier, Maken was believed to have received 30 votes; however, one vote was invalidated, according to Congress MLA BB Batra. Batra stated that media baron Kartikeya Sharma, who ran as an independent and was backed by the BJP and its affiliate Jannayak Janata Party, defeated Maken.
"By a very very, very narrow margin, Ajay Maken has lost," Haryana Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra was quoted by ANI on its official Twitter handle.
Krishan Lal Panwar of the BJP won Haryana's second seat.
Panwar received 31 votes, Sharma received 28, and Maken received 29. However, some math has been used to declare the media mogul the winner.
One independent abstained and one vote was rejected out of 90 MLAs, leaving 88 votes valid. This indicates that in order to win, each contender required 29.34 votes. Panwar's 1.66 votes were defeated by Sharma, who was backed by the BJP, 31 - 29.34. Panwar's second choice candidate was likewise the media magnate. Sharma won with 29.66 votes (28 + 1.66), while Maken's stayed at 29, NDTV reported.
Taking to Twitter, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal said, "My heartiest congratulations to the newly elected Rajya Sabha MPs from Haryana, Krishan Lal Panwar and Kartikeya Sharma. The success of the candidates is a victory of democracy. My best wishes to them for their new responsibilities in the development of our great nation."
Haryana was one among four states that held elections for 16 Rajya Sabha seats on Friday. Earlier last week, 41 politicians from 11 states were elected uncontested to the upper parliament.