The Congress on Saturday, 11 June, expelled Haryana MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi from all party positions, including the post of the special invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls held on Friday.
In a major defeat for the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Krishan Lal Panwar and the saffron party-backed Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma were elected for the two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana on Saturday, after overnight vote counting.
Congress candidate and senior leader Ajay Maken, who had been touted to win by the party, lost the polls by a small margin.
The Congress said that Bishnoi cross-voted while the vote of an MLA was declared invalid.
Replying to a question on Bishnoi voting for Sharma, who is a media baron, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said, "He (Kuldeep Bishnoi) voted listening to his inner conscience. I can say that he must have voted after being influenced by the policies and achievements of the Modi government. He did not bother about what action the Congress will take...I congratulate him."
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