Cross-voters upset party equations in RS polls

New Delhi: Rajasthan’s BJP legislator Shobharani Khushwaha, Congress’s Haryana MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi and JD(S) lawmaker from Karnataka Srinivas Gowda disturbed the calculations of their respective parties by cross-voting in the just-concluded Rajya Sabha election.
Khushwaha (48), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Dholpur, voted for Congress nominee Pramod Tiwari. She has been suspended by the saffron party, pending an inquiry, and has also been issued a show-cause notice to explain her position.
The two-time MLA belongs to the backward Khushwaha community.
She allegedly voted in favour of the Congress to defeat BJP-supported Independent candidate Subhash Chandra.
In a statement, Khushwaha has alleged that media organisations run by Chandra had campaigned against her and thus, the members of the Khushwaha community did not support him.
She has also alleged that the BJP had asked her to vote for Chandra, who was openly talking about cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha election and misusing money power.