On Thursday, 16th April, the Indian National Congress in Haryana suspended five of its MLAs for cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha elections held on 16th March. The action was taken after the party accepted the report of its Disciplinary Action Committee, as confirmed by state Congress president Rao Narender Singh.
Congress, taking a serious view of violations of organisational discipline, has suspended five Haryana MLAs from the party's primary membership with immediate effect.
— ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2026
MLAs Preeti Chaudhary, Renu Bata, Sardar Jarnail Singh, Mohammad Ilyas, and Mohammad Israel have been suspended… pic.twitter.com/EB80h8Rlpk
The MLAs who have been suspended are Shalley Chaudhary from Naraingarh, Renu Bala from Sadhaura, Jarnail Singh from Ratia, Mohammad Israil from Hathin, and Mohammad Ilyas from Punahana. According to party leaders, all five had voted in favour of BJP-backed Independent candidate Satish Nandal in the Rajya Sabha polls.
The Disciplinary Committee, headed by Dharampal Malik, reviewed the matter and recommended their suspension after examining their replies to show-cause notices. The committee also stated that the MLAs should be asked to resign from their membership.
Out of the five, Shalley Chaudhary, Renu Bala, and Jarnail Singh submitted written replies denying the charges. They maintained that they had voted for the official Congress candidate and rejected the claims of cross-voting. Shalley Chaudhary also accused senior party leaders of targeting her and referred to earlier incidents, saying that what happened in the 2016 Rajya Sabha elections was known to everyone.
Renu Bala and Jarnail Singh also stood by their loyalty to the party, saying they were being wrongly blamed. All three MLAs said they had shown their ballots to former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had been authorised by the party to verify votes.
On the other hand, Mohammad Israil and Mohammad Ilyas did not respond to the show-cause notices issued to them. State Congress in-charge B K Hariprasad also confirmed the suspensions, stating that the party had taken action based on the committee’s findings.
