Chandigarh, April 17 -- The Congress on Thursday suspended five Haryana MLAs from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect for allegedly cross-voting in favour of BJP-backed Independent candidate Satish Nandal during the Rajya Sabha elections held on March 16. However, their suspension will not have any implication on their membership of Haryana assembly and they will continue to be MLAs. The anti-defection law does not apply in Rajya Sabha polls. Political parties, though, can take disciplinary action against errant MLAs. Haryana Congress president Rao Narender Singh announced that Shalley Chaudhary (Naraingarh), Renu Bala (Sadhaura), Jarnail Singh (Ratia), Mohammad Ilyas (Punhana), and Mohammad Israil (Hathin) have been suspended for anti-party activities. The action follows the recommendation of the state disciplinary committee and the formal approval of All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge. Rao Narender said that the five MLAs voted against the party's official candidate, Karamvir Singh Boudh, calling it a case of "serious indiscipline" that violated organisational norms. He emphasised that the decision sends a clear message that collective party stands are paramount. He added that this decision sends a clear message to all leaders and workers that strict action will be taken against any activity that goes against the party's collective decisions and authorised stand. Despite having the requisite numbers on paper, the Congress candidate managed to secure one of the two seats by a whisker. In the 90-member assembly, the ruling BJP holds 48 seats, while the Congress has 37. During the polls, three Independents backed Nandal, while two INLD MLAs abstained. Of the 88 votes polled, five Congress MLAs marked Nandal as their first preference and four other Congress ballots were declared invalid, leaving Boudh with 28 votes. While the BJP's Sanjay Bhatia won his seat comfortably, the cross-voting brought the Congress to the brink of defeat. Had one more lawmaker defected, Boudh's tally would have dropped to 27, allowing Nandal to overtake him using Bhatia's surplus votes....