Voting for the high-stakes Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat will take place on Tuesday, bringing to an end a two-week long political drama involving a series of defections from the Opposition Congress to the ruling BJP, resignation of half a dozen legislators and shifting of Congress MLAs to a Bengaluru resort to shield them from “poaching.”
The elections to the upper house from the State, where Assembly polls are due later this year, have acquired sharp focus with BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani entering the fray and the Congress fielding its heavyweight Ahmed Patel, political secretary of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Mr. Ahmed Patel needs 45 votes to win. He has the support of 44 party MLAs, who have returned to the State after camping in Karnataka. On Monday, Mr. Patel claimed that the NCP has decided to support his candidature . However, NCP MLA Kandhal Jadeja told reporters that both of its legislators would vote for the BJP candidate.
BJP camp gets a member
Another lone MLA of the now disbanded Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) Nalin Kotadia, who had earlier supported the Congress candidate, has now reportedly gone over to the BJP camp.
As for the BJP, Mr. Amit Shah held a series of meetings to discuss the strategy for getting adequate numbers for the party’s third candidate Balwantsinh.
The Assembly’s strength is 176, out of which BJP has 122, which makes the victory of Mr. Shah and Ms. Irani a foregone conclusion. However, for the third seat, the party will need cross-voting.
