3 more Cong MLAs quit in Gujarat ahead of Rajya Sabha polls

AHMEDABAD/NEWDELHI: The Congress’s strength in the Gujarat assembly was reduced to 51 after three more lawmakers of the opposition party resigned on Friday, taking the tally of deserters to six.

The resignations have bothered the party and it accused the ruling BJP of horse-trading ahead of the Rajya Sabha election on August 8 in which Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is contesting from the state.

The BJP denied the charge. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the allegations are “false and laughable” and shows the party’s “utter desperation”.

Patel is comfortably placed in terms of numbers. The assembly strength is down to 176, after res- ignation of six MLAs. That means he will need the votes of 45 lawmakers to romp home.

Congress strategists fear more desertions, considering that 11 party MLAs were said to have cross-voted for the BJP-led NDA candidate, Ram Nath Kovind, in the July 17 presidential election. But with each resignation, the number of required votes for Patel will go down too.

The Congress flew out 44 lawmakers on Friday night to Bengaluru, where they will be staying at a resort till the election. “The Congress MLAs have been threatened, coerced and bribed by the BJP in Gujarat. They are no longer feeling safe here,” said party leader Arjun Modhwadia. The party’s chief spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala, and four lawmakers alleged that the BJP was trying to lure the MLAs to resign.