Dushyant Chautala Urges Congress to Field Respected Candidate in Haryana Rajya Sabha By-Elections

Former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala has called on the Congress to nominate a socially and universally respected candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha by-elections. He assured that the opposition in the state would support such a candidate.

The Rajya Sabha seat became vacant after Congress’ Deepender Singh Hooda won the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat. Chautala emphasized the importance of the Congress playing the role of the main opposition party and fielding a strong candidate to show which MLAs support the people and which support the government.

Chautala, who recently ended his alliance with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after failed talks, criticized Leader of Opposition Bhupendra Hooda. He pointed out the contradiction in Hooda’s statements, where Hooda claims the Haryana government lacks a majority but also refuses to contest the by-election, citing insufficient numbers.

Chautala urged the Congress to fight the by-election, stating that the people of Haryana want to see the BJP lose. He highlighted that the BJP currently has 39 MLAs, while the Congress has 30, the Jan Nayak Janata Party has 10, the Haryana Lokhit Party has one, and the Indian National Lok Dal has one, along with seven Independents.

The BJP’s initial 41 MLAs were reduced to 39 after two resignations. The BJP now has the support of three Independents and one HLP MLA, making it a government of 43 MLAs. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, both the Congress and the BJP won five seats each.