ThePrint ThePrintPod: In voting math for Haryana RS seats, near-misses for BJP & hard truths for Congress—despite win for both
Mar 17, 2026
A midnight Rajya Sabha voting drama in Haryana with cancelled ballots and tense overnight scrutiny. Detailed breakdown of voting arithmetic, transfers and a 0.67-vote near-miss that changed results. Complaints to the Election Commission and delayed counting highlight screening disputes. Cross-voting raises hard questions about party discipline and what-if scenarios that could have flipped outcomes.
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Ballot Validity Triggered Midnight Election Drama
- The Rajya Sabha count in Haryana turned into a midnight crisis after ballot validity disputes delayed counting by many hours.
- Multiple complaints, a Congress delegation meeting the CEC, and scrutiny led to one vote cancellation and late counting until 1 AM.
Vote Cancellation Lowered Quota And Affected Outcomes
- The single transferable vote arithmetic made small changes decisive: 83 valid votes set the quota at 27.67 so both winners still crossed the threshold.
- Five Congress votes were cancelled or miscast, yet lowered valid-vote total reduced the quota and allowed both candidates to win.
INLD Absence Changed The Arithmetic
- Two INLD MLAs did not attend the count after their party said it would distance itself from both national parties.
- INLD's absence mattered because had they voted for the BJP-backed candidate, the outcome would have shifted.