Rajya Sabha polls: Congress MLA accused of disclosing vote

Raipur: Controversy erupted during the Rajya Sabha polls here on Friday after a Congress MLA was accused of disclosing her vote in violation of election norms. BJP candidate Saroj Pandey's voting agent alleged that Congress MLA Anila Bhediya violated the rules by disclosing her vote cast in a secret ballot. Bhediya, however, denied the allegation and accused the BJP polling agent of peeping in when she was casting her vote. "I have used my vote as per rules. I have not disclosed my vote. The allegations are baseless," she said. Sources said a final decision on the validity of Bhediya's vote would be taken after the voting gets over. BJP's Saroj Pandey is contesting against Lekhram Sahu of the Congress for the Chhattisgarh Rajya Sabha seat. The voting began at 9 a.m. and the counting will take place at 5 p.m. Voting for 26 out of 59 Rajya Sabha seats took place in six states - Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.