Haryana Rajya Sabha poll: BJP, Congress win one seat each in midnight cliffhanger | By the numbers

The Haryana Rajya Sabha election concluded late Monday night with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress winning one seat each after a closely fought contest.

BJP candidate Sanjay Bhatia and Congress nominee Karamvir Singh Boudh were declared elected by returning officer Pankaj Agrawal once counting ended past midnight.

The result came after a tight race in which Boudh secured 28 votes, while BJP-backed Independent candidate Satish Nandal received 16 votes.

Key numbers from the Haryana Rajya Sabha poll

• Total MLAs in the Haryana Assembly: 90

• Rajya Sabha seats up for election: 2

• MLAs who voted: 88 (two Indian National Lok Dal MLAs abstained)

• Valid votes: 83

• Invalid votes: 5 (four from Congress, one from BJP)

• Cross-voting: Five Congress votes went to the BJP-backed Independent candidate

How the quota was calculated

Under the Rajya Sabha election formula, each valid ballot initially carries a value of 100. When more than one seat is contested, the winning quota is calculated using the formula:

Quota = (Total valid votes × 100 ÷ (Seats + 1)) + 1

For the March 16 election:

83 × 100 ÷ 3 + 1 = 2767

So a candidate needed 2767 vote value to win.

How the candidates fared

• Sanjay Bhatia (BJP): 39 first-preference votes → 39 × 100 = 3900 vote value

• Karamvir Singh Boudh (Congress): 28 first-preference votes → 2800 vote value.

• Satish Nandal (BJP-backed Independent): 16 first-preference votes → 1600 vote value.

After Bhatia’s victory, his surplus 1133 votes were transferred as second preferences. When added to Nandal’s total, his vote value reached 2733.

However, Boudh’s 2800 vote value remained higher than Nandal’s 2733, allowing the Congress candidate to secure the second seat.