RS elections ’22: Congress demands FIR against Subhash Chandra over cross-voting claim in Raj

Jaipur: BJP-backed Independent Rajya Sabha candidate Subhash Chandra has claimed that eight Congress MLAs may vote for him in the June 10 elections and asked former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot to also cross sides.

Apparently referring to the Congress, he said, “It is my guess that eight MLAs will cross-vote. They will cross-vote not because they have affection towards Chandra but due to the behavior of the government and the kind of humiliation.”

The Independent candidate made the statement in the wake of the ruling Congress expressing fears of horse trading by the BJP ahead of the elections to four seats of the Rajya Sabha from the state.

The Rajasthan Congress has demanded registration of an FIR against Chandra and BJP for alleged horse-trading attempts. Deputy Chief Whip of the Congress Mahendra Chaudhary wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner, demanding that an FIR be registered against Chandra, state BJP president Satish Poonia and other party leaders.

His letter came hours after the BJP sent a complaint to the Enforcement Directorate and the Election Commission over suspected horse-trading attempts and Chandra claimed that eight MLAs will cross vote in his favour.

He said that the Congress has 126 votes against 123 required to win three seats, while Chandra has 33 votes and he is short of eight MLAs to win.

While the Congress with its 108 MLAs in set to win two seats, it requires the support of Independents and legislators of other parties to win a third seat.

Chandra has the support of 33 legislators–30 of the BJP and three of the RLP–and is short of eight votes to win the contest. The BJP with its 71 MLAs is set to win one seat.

Asking Pilot to cross sides, Chandra said this would be an opportunity for him to avenge his “humiliation”. “This is an opportunity to take revenge or to give a message. If he misses this opportunity, he will not be able to become the chief minister till 2028,” Chandra said as he claimed that Pilot is feeling “humiliated” in the party.