Chandigarh: The majority of Haryana MLAs voted for the two Rajya Sabha seats on Friday, but Independent legislator Balraj Kundu decided to abstain, claiming that the ruling BJP has been tainted by scandals and that the Congress has "insulted" people by fielding outsider Ajay Maken. Kuldeep Bishnoi of the Congress was among the MLAs who voted immediately after polls opened at 9 a.m., while many of his party's legislators arrived from Raipur via Delhi later in the day.

Officials indicated that voting for the two seats began at 9 a.m. and will continue until 4 p.m., after which the results will be counted.

MLAs from the BJP-JJP and several Independents who had been staying at a posh hotel on the outskirts of Chandigarh for the previous two days boarded a bus to the assembly complex here to vote. Former minister Krishan Lal Panwar has been nominated by the BJP, while Maken, a former Union minister, has been nominated by Congress. Kartikeya Sharma, the media mogul, has entered the race as an Independent.

Kundu, who has been outspoken in his criticism of Manohar Lal Khattar's government on a number of topics, said in the afternoon that he will desist from voting.

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