Elections are to be held on a total of 37 Rajya Sabha seats this month. More than double the number of candidates are trying their luck in their respective parties for these 37 seats in 10 states. Two seats of Haryana are falling vacant and till now both of them are in the possession of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This time Congress is also hoping for one seat and is fully prepared to field a candidate who can win. On the other hand, leaders like Kuldeep Bishnoi in BJP are also staking their claim so that they can also become a partner in power.
BJP can win comfortably on only one seat and leaders from Haryana to Punjab and Haryana are making efforts for this one seat. Leaders like Gopal Kanda are also staking claim for the second seat. At the same time, this opportunity is being said to be the last for Kuldeep Bishnoi because after this there are no elections in Haryana before 2028. If this time too his number does not come, then his patience may prove to be the answer.
Why is this seat important for Kuldeep Bishnoi?
Kuldeep Bishnoi, who left Congress and joined BJP in the year 2022, suffered a huge setback in the 2024 assembly elections. On the seat where his family had been winning since 1968, Congress defeated Kuldeep’s son Bhavya Bishnoi. The result of this was that now no member of the Bishnoi family is neither an MLA nor an MP. This is the restlessness of Kuldeep Bishnoi. For this, he has been meeting senior BJP leaders for the last several days and presenting his claim.
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Last month, on the occasion of his birthday, Kuldeep Bishnoi had indicated that good days are about to come. Recently he has met former CM and current cabinet minister Manohar Lal Khattar, current CM Nayab Singh Saini and many other senior leaders. Kuldeep Bishnoi’s concern is that after this Rajya Sabha elections, Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are in 2029 and the next Rajya Sabha elections are in August 2028. In such a situation, if he misses it this time, he may have to remain without any post for a long time.
Actually, after joining BJP in the year 2022, Kuldeep Bishnoi had left the legislature. Then he made his son Bhavya Bishnoi contest the by-election from Adampur. Bhavya Bishnoi retained his family’s hold on the seat and won the election by defeating Congress’s Jai Prakash. In 2024, Kuldeep Bishnoi wanted Hisar Lok Sabha seat for his family. However, things did not work out then. However, later he managed to get tickets for many other candidates including his son in the assembly elections.
Even in the year 2024, when Rajya Sabha elections were held in Haryana, Kuldeep Bishnoi had tried hard but once Kiran Choudhary and second time Rekha Sharma won. In such a situation, Kuldeep Bishnoi could neither go to the Lok Sabha nor become a member of the Rajya Sabha. Now this time it has become a do or die situation for them.
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What is BJP’s plan?
According to reports, first 10 names were discussed in BJP and finally 3 names have been sent. There is discussion that if no consensus is reached regarding any leader from Haryana, then BJP can send a leader from Punjab to Rajya Sabha. Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu’s name can also be in this race because his tenure is ending in June 2026. The name of Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar is also in discussion because BJP’s parliamentary representation in Punjab is very less.
If we look at the number of MLAs, BJP is certain to win one seat and can try for the other one as well. Apart from Kuldeep Bishnoi, Captain Abhimanyu, Gopal Kanda, Satish Poonia, Banto Kataria and sitting MP Kiran Choudhary are also contenders for this seat.
What is the equation of Haryana?
There are a total of 90 assembly seats in Haryana and to win one seat, votes of 31 MLAs are required. Congress has a total of 37 MLAs and BJP has 47 MLAs. BJP also has 3 independent MLAs. According to these numbers, both the parties can easily win one seat each. However, if BJP wants to save its second seat, it needs 12 additional votes. The second option is that at least half a dozen Congress MLAs should cross-vote. However, this task does not seem easy in Haryana. In such a situation, if BJP gives ticket to someone who can make a dent in the Congress party, then its case can be made.
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BJP can repeat the old formula by fielding an independent candidate for the second seat. Let us tell you that there was a similar situation in 2016 and 2022 and BJP had first supported Subhash Chandra and then Karthikeya Sharma and both were victorious. If such a situation arises again then leaders like Gopal Kanda can be a strong contender because he has a good hold on all the parties and can take advantage of factionalism in parties like Congress.
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