Chandigarh: The upcoming Rajya Sabha election for two seats in Haryana on June 10 has again manifested intense infighting and trust deficit in the Congress.The two seats will fall vacant on August 1 with media baron Subhash Chandra, who was elected with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s support, and Delhi-based BJP leader Dushyant Gautam, completing their terms.The BJP – which formed the government with the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) – needs the support of 31 MLAs and the Congress needs the support of 30 MLAs to ensure a win for their respective candidates.With the backing of 40 MLAs, the BJP’s Krishan Panwar is comfortably placed. Even Congress’s Ajay Maken, an important member of Rahul Gandhi’s team, has no reason to worry.The Congress’s official tally of MLAs in the Haryana assembly is 31, one more than the number required to ensure Maken wins.However, the factionalism within the Congress has once again been exposed. The last-minute entry of former Congress leader Venod Sharma’s son Kartikeya Sharma, a media baron who declared assets worth Rs 390 crore in his nomination papers, has laid bare the faultlines within the party and will keep the grand old party on its toes.Kartikeya Sharma. Photo: Screengrab via YouTube/The TribuneMeanwhile, the Congress MLA from the Adampur assembly segment, Kuldeep Bishnoi, has continued with his rebellious tone, saying that he will vote as per his conscience rather than follow the directives of the high command.Speculations are also rife that one vote of an MLA – who is close to former Haryana state Congress chief Kumari Selja, who was replaced by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s aide Uday Bhan – may swing the other way.Additionally, two senior Congress MLAs are among three who have skipped an event in Raipur where 28 party MLAs are camping for the past few days.Amid concerns that the BJP will sway their votes, a charter plane from Delhi ferried the MLAs to the Congress-ruled state, where they are being closely monitored.A crucial voting dayAccording to Vijay Chauhan, the head of the political science department of the Maharana Pratap National College, the voting day will be crucial for the Congress party. More than cross-voting, the Congress’s major challenge at hand is to stop the casting of “invalid votes”, he said.“Remember what happened in the 2016 Rajya Sabha election. Half of the Congress MLAs’ votes were declared invalid on technical grounds, leading to BJP-backed Subhash Chandra’s victory – who, just like the current candidate Kartikeya Sharma, is also a media baron,” he said.“If two-three votes are declared invalid or a few MLAs fail to reach the polling station, it may disrupt the Congress’s prospects,” he added.Also read: Is It Legal and Moral for ‘Outsiders’ to Run as Rajya Sabha Nominees From Any State?“With the Congress divided into different camps, the possibility of a last minute coup d’état can’t be ruled out, no matter where the MLAs are corralled,” he said.Due to this infighting, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surejwala chose to fight the upper house election from Rajasthan rather than his home state Haryana, some political analysts have noted.Meanwhile, the Congress has appointed two observers – Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and senior leader Rajeev Shukla – to ensure that the party remains united for the upcoming poll.How well is Kartikeya placed?Kartikeya Sharma entered the election fray with the support of 10 MLAs of the JJP, the BJP’s alliance partner in the current government.Later, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar too backed him up, declaring that the party will provide him full support.He got another boost after Sirsa MLA Gopal Kanta of the Haryana Lokhit Party announced its support for him. Most of the seven independent MLAs are believed to be tilting towards him, although as per the Indian Express report, the vote of one independent MLA Balraj Kundu is doubtful.Sharma, as of yet, has got clear support of 20 MLAs (10 JJP + 9 BJP + 1 HLP).If all the seven Independent MLAs and one MLA of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) also support him, he will be within touching distance of the magic number (30). Given his and his father’s influence, he could even surpass it.A litmus test for Hooda Meanwhile, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said that all 31 party MLAs will vote for the party nominee. “We have sufficient numbers. There is no question of worry. All 31 party MLAs will vote for the party nominee. One seat will go to BJP and one to the Congress,” he told The Wire.However, many political experts believe that this election is a litmus test for Hooda.Already facing internal issues, the BJP has multiplied Hooda’s problem by supporting Kartikeya Sharma. Hooda and Kartikeya’s father Venod Sharma were very close before they had a falling out.On Kuldeep Bishnoi, the rebellious MP, he said there is no need for speculation and claimed that he is with the party. “Meeting Rahul Gandhi is his prerogative,” he added.