NEW DELHI: The BJP has appointed Gujarat deputy chief minister Harsh Sanghvi as its observer for the Rajya Sabha election in Haryana where it has put up a third candidate setting up a contest for two seats falling vacant in April.
Sanghvi, a close aide of both prime minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah, is known in BJP circles as a shrewd strategist.
In Haryana, the BJP has fielded Shyam Bhatia and an independent Satish Nandal while Congress has fielded a Dalit leader Karamvir Baudh.
The BJP will bank on cross voting to get the third candidate home.
The BJP has also appointed observers for Rajya Sabha elections to five seats in Bihar and four seats in Odisha.
In Bihar deputy CM Chhattisgarh Vijay Kumar Sharma and union minister Harsh Malhotra from Delhi will be observers and in Odisha, Maharashtra minister Chandrakant Bawankule will oversee the Rajya Sabha elections for seven seats.