BJP eyes 3 Gujarat Rajya Sabha seats as 4 Congress MLAs quit – Times of India, The Times of India

AHMEDABAD: In a major setback to Congress in Gujarat that could end its dream of winning two of the four Rajya Sabha seats from the state in the biennial elections, four of its MLAs have resigned, reducing the party’s strength to 69 in the – member assembly. Consequently, Congress is assured of winning only one seat while BJP is poised to win the remaining three.
Speaker Rajendra Trivedi said on Sunday that he received the resignations of four Congress MLAs“ between 5pm and midnight on Saturday ”. None of the four MLAs who quit and whose resignations were accepted – Somabhai Patel, J V Kakadiya, Pradyumansinh Jadeja and Pravin Maru – could be reached for comment.
Before the resignations, Congress was hoping to win two RS seats as first preference votes of MLAs were required to win a seat. With the support of Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani, the tally of the Congress camp before the resignations stood at 74 – just enough to win two seats. But in the changed scenario, one of the two Congress candidates – Bharatsinh Solanki and Shaktisinh Gohil – could face defeat.
Sources do not rule out the possibility of more Congress MLAs resigning before the elections scheduled for March .
After the resignations, the assembly’s strength has been reduced to 176, which means a candidate will require 36 first preference votes to win the RS berth.
Despite himself contesting the RS election from Maharashtra, AICC Gujarat in-charge Rajeev Satav rushed to Ahmedabad on Sunday afternoon and held a series of Meetings to assess the situation arising out of the resignations.
Gujarat PCC chief Amit Chavda put up a brave face, saying his party was hopeful of winning both the seats. No decision has been taken yet to withdraw the candidature of one of its two nominees, Chavda said. “The speaker has not spelt out names of MLAs who resigned, so we will wait until Monday,” added Chavda.
Leader of the opposition Paresh Dhanani said, “We enjoy the support or NCP, BTP and independents and we are in a position to win two RS seats.”
State BJP president Jitu Vaghani said Congress has already lost the numbers game and some of the MLAs flown to Jaipur will also vote for BJP candidates . “There is a tussle among the two Congress candidates over who should withdraw his nomination,” Vaghani added. Congress had on Saturday moved 15 of its MLAs to Jaipur, fearing attempts by BJP to influence them for votes.
The term of four RS members from Gujarat – Chunibhai Gohel, Lalsinh Vadodiya, Shambhuprasad Tundiya and Madhusudan Mistry – ends on April 9. While Mistry represents Congress, the remaining three are from BJP.