Haryana: BJP likely to field Kiran Choudhry in Rajya Sabha bypolls. Details here

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to field former Haryana minister Kiran Choudhry in the upcoming Rajya Sabha bypolls. Choudhry on Tuesday resigned from the Haryana Assembly. Her resignation has been accepted by the Haryana Assembly Speaker, newswire PTI reported.

Kiran Choudhry, the 69-year-old MLA from Tosham, resigned from the Haryana Assembly nearly two months after she joined the BJP. She joined the BJP along with her daughter Shruti and their supporters in June this year. 

After she joined the BJP, the Congress approached the assembly speaker seeking Choudhry's disqualification from the House. The request, however, was turned down on "technical grounds."

Former CM and Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda previously said that the grand old party would not field a candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls as it does not have the numbers. 

Given the BJP's numbers in the assembly, it is set to win the seat. So how does the arithmetic work exactly?

After Kiran Choudhry's resignation, the BJP has 41 members in the 90-member Vidhan Sabha. The Congress has 28 members, the JJP 10, INLD and Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) have one member each.

There are 5 Independents and 4 seats are vacant. The BJP also has support of Independent MLA Nayan Pal Rawat and HLP MLA Gopal Kanda whereas 3 out of the 5 Independents support the Congress. 

In Haryana, a bypoll for the single Rajya Sabha seat became necessary after Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rohtak.

The elections for 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats across nine states are scheduled for September 3. Voting will be held on September 3, at the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Secretariat from 9 am to 4 pm.

The deadline for filing nominations for this seat is Wednesday. The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on August 22. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until August 27.