New Delhi: The Gujarat Congress got shocked in the midst of a political assault in Bihar. Before the Rajya Sabha elections, three senior Congress MLAs, who resigned from the party on Thursday, stood by the BJP. It is believed to be part of Shankar Singh Vaghela’s plan, under which he had said goodbye to the Congress last week.
All three MLAs handed a letter of resignation to Gandhinagar by Speaker Ramanlal Vora. Vora said that these three will not be able to vote in the Rajya Sabha elections due on August 8, as they are no longer members of the House.
Among these MLAs, the Congress chief’s chief whip Balwant Singh Rajput is included in the assembly. BJP has made her the candidate from the state for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. Rajput, who is a close relative to Vaghela, has fielded Sonia Gandhi’s political advisor Ahmed Patel in the wake of the re-election in the Upper House of Parliament. BJP is expecting that Balwant Singh could also get support from Vaghela supporters.
Two other legislators who resigned from the Congress include Tejashreeben Patel and PI Patel.
Lawyer Balwant Singh Rajput from Sidhpur of Gujarat wrote a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi saying, “Some people of the party are trying to harm my image in the party with my family relationship with Shankar Singh Vaghela. The Congress party should curb people doing such activities, but this is not the case. In such circumstances, it is not possible for me to work for Congress party, due to this I resign from all the posts of Congress.
With the resignation of MLA Balwant Singh Rajput, Tejashreeben Patel, and Prahlad Patel, the number of Congress MLAs in the 182-member assembly has come down to 54. The Congress candidate will need the support of at least 47 MLAs to win and in such a situation if the Congress remains successful in keeping the rest of the legislators united, then Ahmed will not be difficult.
It is to be said that BJP has nominated party president Amit Shah from Gujarat and Union Minister Smriti Irani as Rajya Sabha candidate.
