As the clock neared 1 am, a tense vote-count in the Haryana Legislative Assembly—marred by disputes from both sides—ended with Congress candidate Karamvir Singh Boudh being declared the winner.Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s carefully planned political operation had finally paid off, though only by the narrowest margin.The victory was wafer-thin, but it came despite the BJP’s complex permutations and strategies.Five Congress MLAs cross-voted, and four votes were declared invalid by Returning Officer Pankaj Aggarwal despite the party’s strong protest.Yet somehow, the numbers still held for the Congress.When the Rajya Sabha candidates were announced, the BJP complicated Congress’s plans by backing an Independent candidate, Satish Nandal, banking on cross-voting by Congress MLAs.Hooda knew the margin for error was zero. In 2016, an ink controversy had led to 12 Congress votes being invalidated. In 2022, Kuldeep Bishnoi defected to the BJP and another invalid vote resulted in the defeat of Congress national treasurer Ajay Maken.Determined to avoid a repeat, Hooda assigned his most trusted lieutenants—Deputy Congress Legislative Party leader Aftab Ahmed and Chief Whip BB Batra—to ensure that the MLAs remained united.Operation HimachalWith the Assembly session adjourned from March 10 to March 15 before the election, the period became crucial. The MLAs had to remain together and away from any possible inducements.Hooda asked Ahmed and Batra not to leave Chandigarh. They were tasked with shifting the Congress MLAs to Himachal Pradesh. Karnataka and Telangana were considered but rejected due to their distance from Chandigarh.Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu was contacted. Hotels were booked and buses arranged.All Congress MLAs were asked to gather for lunch at Hooda’s residence on March 13. From there, they were transported to Himachal Pradesh.However, only 31 MLAs left for the trip. Five stayed back citing various reasons, raising eyebrows within the party.The MLAs were not told the name of the destination hotel. The location was kept secret. Ahmed and Batra led the convoy in a separate SUV, and once the group entered Himachal Pradesh, a vehicle equipped with signal jammers accompanied them.To eliminate any chance of error, Hooda sent his son Deepender Hooda to stay with the MLAs. Three other MPs from the Hooda camp—Varun Chaudhary, Jai Prakash and Satpal Brahmachari—also joined them, signalling the importance of the election.Tight vigilDuring their stay in Kufri, Batra and Ahmed acted as Hooda’s eyes and ears. The MLAs were kept under constant watch and instructed to move around only in groups. Jammers were used to prevent attempts at poaching through phone contact.Training sessions were also organised to familiarise the MLAs with the voting procedure for the Rajya Sabha polls.When the weather department issued a snowfall alert, the MLAs were shifted to Kasauli, about two hours from Chandigarh.Final morningOn the day of voting, March 16, the MLAs were brought back to Chandigarh and taken to Hooda’s residence, where he hosted them for breakfast before they proceeded to the Vidhan Sabha.Their phones were collected before voting.Hooda personally brought two MLAs—Chander Mohan and Mohd Ilyas—who had skipped the Himachal trip, to the Assembly in his own car. He was leaving nothing to chance.He also took responsibility for inspecting the ballot papers and was aware of who had cross-voted.A tense Deepender Hooda remained inside the Assembly until the results were declared, while Ahmed and Batra oversaw the counting process.Narrow winIn the end, Boudh secured 2,800 votes. BJP candidate Sanjay Bhatia received 2,767.66 votes, while Independent candidate Satish Nandal—backed by the BJP—got 2,732.33 votes.Both Boudh and Bhatia were declared elected.Unexpectedly, the Indian National Lok Dal’s two MLAs abstained from voting, and an invalid vote from the BJP side also worked in Congress’s favour.Had Boudh lost, the result would likely have been seen as a referendum on Hooda’s leadership.After the victory, Hooda accused the BJP of attempting to manipulate the outcome.“The BJP tried every trick of vote ‘chori’ (theft), but our MLAs did not fall for it. This is a defeat of vote ‘chori’,” he said, also alleging that the Returning Officer had acted in a partisan manner.Aftab Ahmed claimed the BJP used “money and muscle power” and tried to “hijack the election process,” but said Congress MLAs stood firm.Chief Whip BB Batra summed up the outcome with a popular phrase: “Jo jeeta wahi Sikandar” — the winner takes it all.