Vikrant Shekhawat : Aug 21, 2024, 03:40 PM
Rajya Sabha Elections: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kiran Chaudhary on Wednesday filed her nomination as the party candidate for the Rajya Sabha by-election from Haryana. Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini and several BJP MLAs were present when she filed the nomination papers in the assembly premises. Chaudhary resigned from the assembly on Tuesday, nearly two months after leaving the Congress. Soon after this, the BJP made her its candidate for the by-election. If Kiran Chaudhary is elected MP, her term will be till April 2026.Congress has not yet fielded a candidateKiran Chaudhary is almost certain to be elected unopposed. Wednesday is the last day to file nominations for this seat. Congress leader Bhupendra Singh Hooda had earlier said that his party would not field a candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat as they do not have enough numbers. Scrutiny of nomination papers for this seat will be done on August 22 while candidates can withdraw their nominations till August 27. If necessary, voting will be held on September 3 from 9 am to 4 pm at the Haryana Assembly Secretariat.BJP has an upper handGiven the number of BJP MLAs in the Assembly, Kiran Chaudhary is expected to win this seat. After Chaudhary resigned from the post of MLA, the 90-member assembly has 41 BJP members, 28 Congress members and 10 JJP members. There are five independent MLAs in the assembly, one member each from INLD and Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) and four seats are vacant. BJP also has the support of independent MLA Nayan Pal Rawat and HLP MLA Gopal Kanda. Three independent MLAs have supported the Congress.Kiran Chaudhary joined BJP in JuneAfter Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda was elected from Rohtak Lok Sabha seat, a by-election was necessitated for the only Rajya Sabha seat in Haryana. Former Haryana minister Chaudhary (69) joined the BJP in June along with her daughter Shruti and her supporters. She represented the Tosham constituency in the Assembly.