Gujarat: The resignation of two more Congress MLAs was confirmed by Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi.
New Delhi, June 4:
Two Gujarat Congress MLAs have resigned ahead of the June 19 Rajya Sabha polls, making it difficult for the party to win more than one of the state’s four seats.
The BJP, with 103 members in the 182-member state assembly, can easily win two of the four Rajya Sabha seats.
The ruling party has fielded a third candidate, Narhari Amin, a former Congress leader, and it is likely to be a close fight.
To win a seat in Gujarat, any candidate needs at least 34 MLAs.
The Congress will find it tough to win a second seat with the resignation of Jitu Chaudhary and Akshay Patel. The party has 66 members and can comfortably win one Rajya Sabha seat. A second seat has becoming challenging after seven resignations; five MLAs had resigned in March.
The resignation of two more Congress MLAs was confirmed by Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi, who said Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary met him on Wednesday evening. “I have accepted their resignations. They now cease to be the legislators,” the Speaker told reporters today.
Of the four Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat due for polls, the BJP has three and the Congress, one. Besides Narhari Amin, the BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj and Ramilaben Bara. The Congress has named Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki for the polls.
The Congress has to decide who will be its first preference candidate because that person is likely to win.
To complicate matters, its ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has a lone member, Kandhal Jadeja, and it is not clear which way he will vote. The NCP recently replaced its Gujarat chief Shankarsinh Vaghela, who was reportedly dead opposed to supporting the BJP.
The Congress has accused the BJP of trying to split its ranks.
“The BJP has opened its shop to buy Congress MLAs from the money amassed through corrupt means. The BJP is using state machinery and money power to win elections,” Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani alleged.
Narhari Amin denied the allegations and said more were likely to quit the Congress and they were upset.
“I believe that some more Congress MLAs would also resign in near future. They are leaving Congress because they are unhappy with the party leadership,” Mr Amin said.
The elections were to be held on March 26 but were postponed because of the coronavirus crisis and the nationwide lockdown.
