MP Rajya Sabha bypoll: Congress-backed independent Rajkumar Lohani files against Hardeep Puri

Congress's challenge

Congress Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Hemant Katare was among Lohani's proposers, and six Congress MLAs were present when he filed. Congress says that its MLAs will back him. Congress opposes Puri's election over his alleged links to the convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which Puri denies.

The party's allegation was made at a press conference in February by Pawan Khera, its media and publicity head. Khera said US Justice Department records show 62 email exchanges between Puri and Epstein, with Puri sending 32 and Epstein 30, and 14 meetings between 2014 and 2017. Congress says Puri misled the public about the relationship, and has demanded his resignation and an independent inquiry. It has also asked in what capacity he met Epstein in 2014. About 12 days ago the party circulated a purported photograph showing Puri seated across a table from Epstein, which Khera argued undercut Puri's earlier defence that the meetings were part of a delegation. Dr Hiralal Alawa said the party does not want Puri to reach the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh.

Puri has called the claims baseless and said that any suggestion connecting him to Epstein's criminal activities is groundless. He has said that his limited meetings with Epstein were unrelated to any crimes, and has accused Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, of making baseless allegations. These are political allegations, and the reports reviewed carry no independent finding of wrongdoing.

Where the allegation stands

Congress has returned to the Epstein issue repeatedly since February. Its leaders have accused the government of what they called criminal indifference over the matter, and have asked why Puri was renominated despite the controversy. The party says the emails and meetings show a closer relationship than Puri has acknowledged, while the BJP has not addressed the specific numbers. The reports reviewed carry only Congress's description of the records, and no independent finding of wrongdoing by Puri.

The 230-member Assembly has a comfortable BJP majority, and 116 votes are needed to win. Congress, with far fewer MLAs, does not have enough to win on its own. Congress MLA Mukesh Malhotra cannot vote following a court order. The position of Bina MLA Nirmala Sapre is uncertain, since she says she is with Congress but has been seen at BJP events and a defection-related case is pending.

In a Rajya Sabha by-election the electors are the sitting members of the state Assembly, and with a single seat the candidate who gets a majority of the votes wins. Members of a party vote by open ballot, showing their marked ballot to their party's authorised agent, which makes defections visible and is one reason cross-voting is rare. A nomination also has to be backed by a minimum number of sitting members as proposers, which is why an independent without enough proposers is vulnerable at scrutiny.

An official said Lohani's papers are likely to be rejected at the scrutiny on Tuesday because he has not filed an affidavit. Another independent, Kanthe Sayanna from Telangana, who filed on Saturday, faces the same prospect because he lacks proposers. If both are rejected, Puri would be the only valid candidate and could be declared elected without a vote after the last date for withdrawals.

For Congress, the contest is mostly symbolic. Putting up an independent, even one whose papers may fail, lets the party press the Epstein allegation in a state where it cannot defeat the BJP on numbers. For Puri, the by-election is a route back to the Rajya Sabha after his Uttar Pradesh term ends, and the outcome will be settled at today's scrutiny or, if a contest takes place, when the votes are counted on 12 November.