Congress high command should take action in invalid vote issue: Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 19

Former CM and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said it was the duty of the high command to take action in the case of invalid vote in the Haryana Rajya Sabha poll where Congress’ Ajay Maken lost out to Independent Kartikeya Sharma.

Will not expel Kuldeep Bishnoi

If Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi resigns, we are ready for a fight. I will not expel him, but he should resign and contest poll. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, LOP

Hooda said Maken had investigated the issue. “Maken said Kiran Choudhry had ticked marked it instead of writing ‘1’ against the preference,” added Hooda. “It was ballot No.26, which had a tick mark and was later declared invalid. Maken reached the conclusion (of pinpointing Choudhry) after watching the video that who arrived at number 26,” said Hooda.

On state in-charge Vivek Bansal, he pointed out, “Had he told us in advance that there were only 29 valid votes, we could have pushed for cancelling the poll like the BJP.”

“Someone has to own it. Both Bansal and Choudhry couldn’t commit mistakes together. It is wrong to say that Maken is biased. When asked about Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, he said, “If he resigns, we are ready for a fight.” “I will not expel him, but he should resign and contest poll,” he added. Citing Birender Singh, Hooda said neither the BJP would benefit from him, nor the Congress would lose anything.

On MLA Surender Panwar’s case, Hooda said, “He resigned through an e-mail under duress. He was threatened that his son would be killed. The Speaker can’t accept the resignation without giving a personal hearing. I got to know about the resignation after he sent the e-mail. When he met me, he broke down.” He added, “We had met the Governor with regard to poor law and order in the state. MLAs are being threatened. We are more concerned for the common man.”

Panwar said he had been constantly receiving threats. “A ransom of Rs 5 crore was being demanded from Dubai. I had been sharing the details with the DGP and SP. Full security was provided only after resignation,” he said.

On Sangrur MP Simranjeet Singh Mann’s statement on Bhagat Singh, Hooda said, “How can we tolerate it? Bhagat Singh is venerated across the country. He played an important role in the freedom struggle. The statement is condemnable.”

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