The Haryana Assembly on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) saw uproar by the opposition members of the Congress, who questioned the process of the Rajya Sabha elections, alleging that the poll exercise amounted to the “suppression of democracy.”
The Congress MLAs and the ruling members of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were embroiled in a sharp exchange of words surrounding the elections for two Rajya Sabha seats, which saw ‘cross-voting’ by Congress MLAs and technical disqualification.
After the question hour, Congress MLA Raghuvir Singh Kadian and leader of the Opposition, Congress party’s Bhupinder Singh Hooda raised the issue, alleging that democracy was murdered and the dignity of Rajya Sabha polls has taken a hit.
Congress MLAs raised slogans of “vote chor, gaddi chhod” and stormed the well of the House. The BJP MLAs held up nine fingers, in a pointed reference to the nine votes Congress lost by cross-voting and those declared invalid. As the chaos continued, the Speaker, Harvinder Kalyan briefer adjourned the House. The Congress members again created a ruckus after lunch, following which the Speaker named their eight MLAs. The Congress MLAs then staged a walkout.
Taking a dig at the Congress, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, said the BJP had successfully ensured the election of its candidate Sanjay Bhatia, to the Rajya Sabha. “In a democracy, every individual has the right to contest elections, and supporting an Independent candidate is well within democratic norms. If the opposition had objections, they were free to field their own candidate. Why didn’t they?” he quipped, adding that the Independent candidate had approached them for support, which they extended. Reacting sharply to the remarks made by Mr. Kadian, who termed the election process questionable and alleged ‘vote theft’, Mr. Saini said, “such claims are completely baseless and unfortunate.””
