By Abdul Hafiz Lakhani Ahmedabad
Gandhinagar: With one more Congress party MLA resigning today, the upcoming Rajya Sabha election to four seats in Gujarat is more or less a formality. The maths now favours the BJP’s three candidates, who might all get elected in the first round of voting.
Congress always appeared defensive and demoralised in front of an aggressive BJP. Having been pushed to the wall due to Amit Shah’s political manoeuvres, Congress was seen trying to save its skin. Though Amit Shah is not national president of BJP but he keeps close watch on state politics. In 2017,despite all efforts from him, Ahmed Patel won the rs election in touch and go way.
On the other hand, this is politics where anything can happen including cross voting and BJP’s MLAs being absent or abstaining from voting.
There are five candidates in the fray for the four available Rajya Sabha seats,three from BJP and two from the Congress. To win the election in the first round each candidate will require 35 votes. State Assembly has a total of 182 seatsc of which 173 are occupied since six seats are vacant and one election has been cancelled. Breaking this down along party lines, BJP has 103 MLAs, Congress has 65, the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) has two, NCP has one and there is one independent MLA.
Congress senior leader and treasurer Mr. Ahmed Patel have to come for rescue operations and damage control in the Party, as he was instrumental last time. He in past convinced BTP leader Chhotubhai Vasava to vote for Congress party. It is almost certain that NCP’s MLA Kandhal Jadeja will vote for a BJP candidate. Similarly, independent MLA Jignesh Mevani will certainly vote for Congress candidates.
Meanwhile, BTP is keeping its cards to its chest, but knows its two votes will be very crucial for BJP and Congress. The incumbent BJP will not happy with the resignation of just two Congress MLAs , since it will take another three Congress resignations for the BJP’s three candidates to sail to a smooth victory
With one more resignation from Gujarat Congress MLA,It is almost foregone conclusion that In Coming Rajya Sabha election, Congres will loose one seat.
Congress MLA from Morbi, Brijesh Merja resigned today. With just 65 MLAs, Gujarat Congress hope of winning two RajyaSabha seats seem bleak. Shaktisinh Gohil being first candidate, Bharatsinh Solanki’s win is at stake.
Two other Congress MLAs, Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary, resigned on Wednesday evening.
The resignations come just two weeks before elections to four Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat. With Merja’s resignation, a total of eight Congress MLAs have resigned since March. Before the polls were announced, the Congress had 73 MLAs in the Gujarat Assembly and was looking to win two of the four seats. The ruling BJP, which has 103 MLAs in the Assembly, has been assured of winning two seats and is eyeing a win in the third seat.
Shakti Singh Gohil and Bharat Singh Solanki were nominated as candidates by the Congress. According to reports, the resignations mean that Solanki’s chances of reaching the Rajya Sabha have dimmed.
The Congress won 81 seats in the 2017 Assembly polls in Gujarat, its best performance in lata many years, but the party has seen a steady stream of exits. The resignation of Merja means that the Congress has now lost 16 MLAs. The Congress has accused the BJP of masterminding the exits.
(Siyasat.net is Ahmedabad,Gujarat,India based website)
