The Congress party has identified Jarnail Singh as the fifth MLA who allegedly crossed-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha elections. The party's disciplinary committee has now issued a show-cause notice to Singh, the MLA from Ratia, after confirming his role in the voting breach. According to party sources, the notice was issued as part of the Congress' ongoing probe into the cross-voting episode that has caused an internal concern.
This comes a day after the party had issued notices to four of its Haryana MLAs who allegedly cross-voted during the recent Rajya Sabha elections. The action was takes after the party on Wednesday named four out of the five legislators it suspected of defying the official line. The name of the fifth MLA was not disclosed till then. Of this, two MLAs on Thursday denied that they had cross-voted and said that their names are being dragged into the episode unnecessarily.
MLAs asked to reply within a week
The party has directed all five legislators to reply within a week of receiving the notices and explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against them. The notices state that it has been brought to the attention of the party leadership that the MLAs allegedly cast their vote in a manner contrary to prescribed procedures and official direction issued by the party, resulting in the cancellation or invalidation of their votes. It said their conduct, if established, was a "deliberate deviation intended to defeat the party's official position" and a "serious breach of party discipline", news agency PTI reported.
Haryana Rajya Sabha election
It is to be noted here that polling for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana was held on Monday (March 16). The BJP's Sanjay Bhatia won one seat comfortably, while the Congress candidate, Karamvir Singh Boudh, secured the second seat in a close contest against Independent candidate Satish Nandal. In an effort to prevent being influenced, the Congress had shifted its MLAs to a heavily guarded resort in Himachal Pradesh ahead of the polls. The MLAs returned to Chandigarh only on Monday morning to cast their votes. While the party secured a seat, the cross-voting episode exposed internal rifts and factionalism within the Haryana unit.
ALSO READ: Haryana: Congress issues show-cause notices to four MLAs over cross voting in Rajya Sabha polls
