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From Haryana to Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat to UP and Jharkhand, Rajya Sabha elections have time and again become a test of the Congress’s ability to keep its MLAs together.
Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. (AI generated image)
The Congress’ defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections in Jharkhand on June 18 has once again exposed a problem that has repeatedly haunted the party over the past decade: cross-voting by its own MLAs or its allies in crucial Upper House contests. From Haryana to Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat to Uttar Pradesh and now Jharkhand, the Rajya Sabha elections have time and again become a test of the Congress’s ability to keep its MLAs together. In many cases, the party has lost seats despite having numbers on paper. In others, it has survived only after dramatic recounts, Election Commission intervention or support from allies.
The latest setback came in Jharkhand, where Congress candidate Pranab Jha lost to NDA-backed independent Parimal Nathwani, despite the India Bloc having a sufficient majority in the 81-member assembly. The alliance had 56 MLAs – enough to win both Rajya Sabha seats – but Nathwani achieved the exact winning quota of 28 valid votes, while Jha managed only 19. The probe within the alliance pointed to cross-voting by MLAs from Congress allies RJD and CPI(ML). The defeat also raised questions again over Congress’s decision to announce Jha’s candidature without consulting its senior alliance partner JMM, leading to resentment within the alliance even before voting began.
The Jharkhand episode is the latest in a long series of Rajya Sabha elections where internal dissent has upset the Congress’ electoral mathematics.
Haryana 2016: ‘Ink controversy’ caused Congress to lose one seat
One of the most controversial Rajya Sabha elections in recent memory took place in Haryana in June 2016. Congress-backed independent candidate RK Anand was expected to win with the support of Congress and opposition MLAs. Instead, BJP-backed independent candidate Subhash Chandra emerged victorious after 13 opposition votes were declared invalid by the Election Commission.
This reason became infamous by the name of “ink controversy”. The Congress MLAs had marked their ballot papers using a pen which was not an officially authorized purple sketch pen supplied by the returning officer. It was later alleged that the authorized pens were changed during voting, due to which the ballot papers cast by Congress MLAs, including senior leader Randeep Surjewala, became invalid.
The controversy did not end here. There were also allegations that a section of Congress MLAs loyal to former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda were never enthusiastic about Anand’s candidature. The Election Commission later recommended disciplinary action against the Haryana Assembly Secretary for negligence in handling the election process.
The defeat left an indelible stain on the Haryana Congress. In subsequent Rajya Sabha elections, the party regularly shifted its MLAs to resorts in Himachal Pradesh to prevent defection and ensure tight control over MLAs before voting.
UP 2016: Kapil Sibal wins, but 6 Congress MLAs expelled
In the same year, Congress had to face another embarrassment during the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. Although Kapil Sibal ultimately secured the election with the support of the Samajwadi Party, the Congress learned that six of its own MLAs had voted against him. The MLAs expelled from the party include Sanjay Pratap Jaiswal (Basti), Madhuri Verma (Bahraich), Vijay Dubey (Kushinagar), Mohammad Muslim (Tiloi-Amethi), Dil Nawaz Khan (Bulandshahr) and Nawab Kazim Ali Khan (Rampur).
Sibal won only after benefiting from surplus votes transferred by the Samajwadi Party. Without that external support, the Congress could have easily lost the seat to an internal rebellion.
Gujarat 2017: Ahmed Patel saved after midnight drama
One of the most dramatic Rajya Sabha elections involving the Congress took place in Gujarat in August 2017. Political strategist and senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel faced a determined campaign by the BJP to remove him from the post through mass defection. Former chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela rebelled against the party, while seven other Congress MLAs cross-voted in favor of BJP candidate Balwantsinh Rajput. Among the defectors was Karamshi Patel, who had traveled with Congress MLAs to a resort in Bengaluru to stop poaching, but ultimately voted against the party.
The Congress challenged the two rebel votes before the Election Commission, arguing that they violated ballot secrecy norms. After hours of deliberations until midnight, the commission invalidated both ballots. Patel eventually crossed the victory mark with 44 votes, helped by the crucial vote of the JD(U) MLA.
Congress expelled all the eight rebel MLAs for six years. Patel described the result as a victory over “money power, muscle power and misuse of state machinery”.
Haryana 2022: Kuldeep Bishnoi’s rebellion sinks Ajay Maken!
If the 2016 Haryana election had exposed procedural weaknesses, the 2022 contest had exposed blatant political insurgency. The Congress had exactly 31 MLAs – the exact number needed to elect Ajay Maken. Instead, senior Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi voted for BJP-backed independent Karthikeya Sharma. Another vote of Congress was declared invalid during the counting of votes.
Two shocks proved decisive. Despite the arithmetic being in favor of Congress, Sharma defeated Maken.
The party acted swiftly and expelled Bishnoi from all organizational posts the very next day, ultimately expelling him from the party.
Himachal Pradesh 2024: 6 rebels triggered the crisis
In February 2024, Congress suffered perhaps its biggest political blow through cross voting in Himachal Pradesh. Despite leading the state government with absolute majority, Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost to BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan.
Six Congress MLAs – Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Davinder Kumar Bhutto, Ravi Thakur and Chetanya Sharma – joined three independent MLAs in voting for Mahajan.
Both candidates finished with 34 votes each. Under election rules, Mahajan was eventually declared elected through a draw of lots.
Its consequences extended far beyond the Rajya Sabha elections. Six Congress MLAs later violated the party whip by abstaining from voting during the budget session and were subsequently disqualified from the Assembly. The BJP briefly claimed that the Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu government had lost its majority, creating the biggest constitutional crisis in Himachal Pradesh in recent years.
Odisha 2026: Congress MLAs help BJP-backed independents win
Cross-voting came to the fore again in Odisha during the March 2026 Rajya Sabha elections. Three Congress MLAs – Sophia Firdous (Barabati-Cuttack), Ramesh Chandra Jena (Sankhemundi) and Dashrathi Gomango (Mohana) – voted against the joint BJD-Congress candidate and instead supported BJP-backed independent Dilip Ray.
Ray won his fourth Rajya Sabha seat, foiling opposition plans.
Immediately after the elections, Congress suspended all three MLAs.
Haryana 2026: Candidate survives despite five defections
In the same month, the organizational weaknesses of Congress were again exposed in Haryana. Five Congress MLAs – Shaili Choudhary, Renu Bala, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Israel and Jarnail Singh – cross-voted in favor of BJP-backed independent Satish Nandal. Apart from the loss, four Congress ballot papers were declared invalid during counting.
Despite heavy internal sabotage, Congress candidate Karamveer Singh Boudh managed to win by a margin of only 0.67 votes. If one more MLA had defected, Congress would have lost this seat.
The party suspended all the five MLAs involved in cross voting.
Bihar 2026: Cross voting without result
The Rajya Sabha elections in Bihar in March 2026 presented another episode of indiscipline. Three Congress MLAs cross-voted, leading to the NDA winning all five Rajya Sabha seats in the state.
Although show cause notices were issued and replies received, the party had not taken disciplinary action against the MLAs even months later, highlighting differences in the way the rebellion was handled by different state units.
a recurring pattern
Overall, these polls reveal a consistent trend. Wherever the Congress has lost Rajya Sabha seats despite favorable numbers – Haryana (2016 and 2022), Himachal Pradesh (2024), Odisha (2026) and Jharkhand (2026) – the immediate trigger has been cross-voting. Congress’s own MLAs rebelled in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. In Jharkhand, the damage was done by India Bloc’s allies. In Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, the Congress ultimately survived, but only after dramatic intervention, support from allies or Election Commission decisions.
Another pattern is equally attractive. Most rebellions stem from unresolved factional fighting within the party or resentment over candidate selection. The Hooda camp’s uneasiness with RK Anand in Haryana, Kuldeep Bishnoi’s rebellion against Ajay Maken, the rebellion against the Sukhu leadership in Himachal Pradesh, and discontent among allies of the Indian faction in Jharkhand all reflect deeper political fault lines rather than spontaneous acts of defiance.
The Jharkhand defeat has once again underlined that, for the Congress, the challenge in the Rajya Sabha elections is often not to defeat the BJP, but to prevent its numbers from slipping before the ballots are counted.
About the author
Pragati is news editor at news18.com. After heading the Business and Viral sections, Pragati now conceptualises, writes and edits long-form features and articles on national and global affairs. She makes sure…read more
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