Rajya Sabha Polls: Amid Poaching Fears, Cong Shifts Haryana MLAs To Raipur & Rajasthan MLAs To Udaipur

“The bus is here. We all will go somewhere, but the destination will be known later. All the MLAs are united,” ANI quoted Bansal as saying.

Rajya Sabha (File Photo: Getty)

New Delhi: As poaching fear grips ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections on June 10, the Haryana Congress, as a precautionary step, on Thursday shifted its MLAs to Chhattisgarh while the grand old party's Rajasthan unit shifted its legislators to Udaipur.

Haryana Congress in-charge Vivek Bansal said the MLAs have arrived at the residence of party Member of Parliament Deepender Singh Hooda.

“The bus is here. We all will go somewhere, but the destination will be known later. All the MLAs are united,” ANI quoted Bansal as saying.

Meanwhile, Hooda trained his guns on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said no Congress MLA is upset.

“All the MLAs will go there (to Chhattisgarh). I want to tell the BJP that it should keep its Haryana MLAs safe,” he added.

The Congress MP said the BJP should take care of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and Independent MLAs that are supporting them.

 “As far as the Rajya Sabha elections are concerned, the numbers will be more than the strength of the Congress legislative party,” he added.

This comes as, according to ABP news inputs, the Congress has made preparations to shift the party’s Haryana MLAs to Chhattisgarh.

According to sources, around 70 rooms are booked in the Mayfair resort in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur in the name of Mayor Aijaz Dhebar.

This comes as two seats in the Rajya Sabha from Haryana will fall vacant in August as the terms of media baron Subhash Chandra, elected as an Independent with the BJP’s support, and BJP leader Dushyant Gautam will expire.

The Congress has fielded Ajay Maken from Haryana for the Rajya Sabha elections, while Krishan Lal Panwar is the BJP’s candidate from the state.

Rajasthan Congress MLAs Leave For Hotel In Udaipur:

Meanwhile, around 40 Rajasthan Congress MLAs and some Independents left for a hotel in Udaipur.

This comes as the grand old party tries to keep its flock together before the Rajya Sabha elections on four seats in the state.

The MLAs boarded a luxury bus from Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s residence in the state capital’s civil lines area and and left for Udaipur around 5 p.m, PTI reported.

The MLAs and other leaders, who attended a state Congress workshop at a hotel in Jaipur, were called at the Chief Minister’s official residence for lunch.

The legislators MLAs left for Udaipur in the bus, which was escorted by a police team, post lunch.

This move assumes significance as the Congress fearing poaching by the BJP has decided to shift its MLAs to Udaipur.

The Congress has fielded Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari from Rajasthan.

The BJP, which has fielded Ghanshyam Tiwari -- a former minister of Vasundhara Raje-led Cabinet -- is also backing media baron Subhash Chandra, who has filed his nomination as an Independent candidate.