Congress politician Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who lost the Rajya Sabha election in Himachal Pradesh on Feb 27 due to cross-voting by six Congress MLAs, on Saturday filed a petition in Himachal HC challenging the rule of declaring result through draw of lots in case of a tie between both candidates. He said there is nothing in the law, neither in the Act nor in the Rules that compels an interpretation which requires that the person whose name is drawn up in a draw of lots is the loser.

Singhvi, while interacting with reporters in Shimla, said he has challenged the assumption that the one whose name is on the slip should be declared the loser, and termed this notion as “legally incorrect”.

He further said that if this assumption is wrong, then the results declared in the elections are also wrong.

The Congress functionary also emphasised that he has challenged the Rajya Sabha election on legal grounds.

In the election, Singhvi and Harsh Mahajan of BJP had polled 34 votes each. After the contest ended in a tie, Mahajan won the election through a draw of lots as the slip drawn bore Singhvi’s name. The defeat was a big blow for Congress, which had a clear majority of 40 MLAs in the House of 68 members. BJP, which had 25 MLAs, managed to win the poll with the help of cross-voting.

Six rebel Congress MLAs along with three independent MLAs cross-voted for BJP.