Kiran set to be elected in bypoll for lone RS seat

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 21

Twenty years after she missed the chance to be elected to the Rajya Sabha after the then Speaker disqualified six MLAs

and declared one vote invalid, Congress-turned-BJP leader Kiran Choudhry is all set to be elected from Haryana in the bypoll for one seat of the Rajya Sabha.

Accompanied by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and his Cabinet colleagues, besides party MLAs and the BJP’s co-in charge of Haryana elections, Biplab Deb, and state unit chief Mohan Lal Badoli, Choudhry filed her nomination papers at the Haryana Vidhan Sabha here today.

Feeling Relieved

I feel a sense of relief to be away from the Congress where conspiracy and under-cutting is a norm. I would never have thought of seeing the Rajya Sabha in my lifetime had I stayed in the Congress. —Kiran Chaudhry

“I feel a sense of relief to be away from the Congress where conspiracy and under-cutting is a norm. I would never have thought of seeing the Rajya Sabha in my lifetime had I stayed in the Congress. The BJP recognises a leader’s worth and promotes capable people,” she said.

In 2004, she was the Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha poll, however, six MLAs supporting her were disqualified by the Speaker during the INLD regime under the provisions of the anti-defection law. Though she still had the numbers, one vote, cast through ballot papers, was declared “invalid” by the then Speaker because of an additional marking in the box. She challenged it but did not make it to the Rajya Sabha that year.

Asked if her daughter and former MP, Shruti, would contest the upcoming Assembly poll, Choudhry said the party high command would take a call on it. She said she had given “45 years to the Congress but will stay with the BJP till her last breath”.

The BJP is set to win the seat unopposed on August 27, after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations is over, since the main opposition Congress had already declared that it would not field a candidate. There are no other candidates in the fray as nominations closed for the bypoll this afternoon.

The election was necessitated after Congress leader Deepender Hooda was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rohtak in the recently concluded elections. Choudhry will be an RS MP till 2026, the remaining term of the seat held by Hooda.

“Our family has old ties with the BJP. Bansi Lal formed the government in the state with the BJP,” she said, after filing her papers. Choudhry is the daughter-in-law of the late CM Bansi Lal. She quit the Congress two months back to join the BJP. CM Saini said Choudhry’s experience would enrich the BJP. “We have the numbers on our side. We also have the support of MLAs Jogi Ram Sihag, Ram Niwas Surjakhera, Anoop Dhanak, Ram Kumar Gautam (formerly of JJP), Gopal Kanda (HLP) and Nain Pal Rawat (Independent),” he added.