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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and member of Rajya Sabha from Himachal Pradesh, Harsh Mahajan, criticised senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi for moving Himachal High Court against Rajya Sabha elections in which Mahajan won through 'draw of lots'.
"He has in a way challenged the rules of elections made by the Election Commission of India. When the elections were taking place, the returning officer explained everything properly and Abhishek Manu Singhvi even brought the book of rules with him. He even signed on the rules. When my name was not drawn and the chit remained in the box, he even put a signature on that process. It is pure luck and God's grace that I won. He even congratulated me. Everything happened according to the new election rules," the BJP MP told ANI on Saturday. On February 27 this year, Singhvi lost to BJP's Harsh Mahajan, though both got equal votes with 34-34 each. But Mahajan won in the draw of lots in accordance with the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. In his petition, Singhvi challenged the fundamental question of winning and losing through the draw of lots. Singhvi filed a petition in Himachal Pradesh High Court earlier in the day challenging the 'Draw of Lots' rule in Rajya Sabha elections. "A petition has been filed which raises the basic fundamental question that it is defined common sense to think that the name picked out in the draw of lots becomes the loser. It defines average intelligence and in the normal practice even in children's games that a name picked up wins and doesn't become the loser, strangely Section 65 defines that the name picked up becomes the loser where as on the contrary the named picked up wins, it is applied to the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections but for Rajyasabha it is strangely different," Singhvi told ANI after filing his petition at the Himachal High Court. In voting for Rajya Sabha elections earlier in February this year, the BJP, which has just 25 MLAs, managed to secure nine additional votes. The vote ended in a 34-34 tie, with three Independents and six Congress MLAs cross-voting for the BJP, whose candidate Harsh Mahajan won after the result was decided with a draw of lots. Reportedly, six Congress MLAs--Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Davinder K Bhutto, Ravi Thakur, Chaitanya Sharma and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal--cross voted during the polls. (ANI)
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