Chandigarh, March 18 (IANS) Haryana Congress legislator Gokul Setia has announced a protest outside the state Congress office in Chandigarh on Wednesday following the cross-voting in the recent Rajya Sabha elections and the cancellation of votes cast by the state Congress MLAs.
The protest is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. Setia has also appealed to the other Congress MLAs whose names are being wrongly circulated on the social media to join him.
Setia, the Congress MLA from Sirsa Assembly seat, also said that he maintains cordial relations with Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and current Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, adding that his name is being wrongly floated on social media on the pretext that he cross-voted for the Congress which he said were “baseless allegations”.
He shared this information through a video on social media, urging the party to publicly identify such MLAs who worked to sabotage the party’s prospects in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in the state held on late March 17 evening.
“The Congress high command should publicly identify those state legislators who cross-voted against the party. I would request party leaders to publicly disclose the names of such MLAs.”
Setia alleged that a fake message is being circulated on the social media, claiming that his name in the cross-voting during the recent Rajya Sabha polls is being unnecessarily attributed to him.
He has expressed dissatisfaction with certain internal party actions and has urged the Haryana Congress leadership to sack those legislators who voted against the party candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls held in the state.
This protest highlights ongoing tensions within the Haryana Congress, with Setia previously noting that he felt “ignored and isolated” despite winning his Sirsa Assembly seat.
Despite having the numerical strength, Congress narrowly won only one seat in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana.
Cross-voting has caused significant embarrassment for the Congress, with factionalism within the party’s Haryana unit evident.
The names of five Congress MLAs who cross-voted are being discussed, although the party has not yet disclosed their names.
Some social media accounts have claimed Gokul Setia was among these Congress MLAs involved in the cross-voting, though this has not been confirmed.
In Chandigarh, when former Haryana Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupendra Singh Hooda was asked to reveal five names, he said that the names have been sent to the Congress high command. He neither revealed the names nor denied the names.
–IANS
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