Ahmed Patel in a spot as 3 more Guj Cong MLAs quit
AHMEDABAD: Three more Congress MLAs on Friday resigned from the party and public post, taking the total number to 6 just before the Rajya Sabha poll.
The exodus from the Congress has further endangered the winning chances of Congress lone candidate and All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel in the poll to be held on August 8.
The BJP has fielded Balwantsinh Rajput, who along with two other MLAs — Dr Tejshree Patel and Prahlad Patel — resigned on Thursday. BJP’s all three candidates — party chief Amit Shah, information and broadcasting and textiles minister Smriti Irani and Rajput, filed their nominations on Friday. “Mansinh Chauhan, Channa Chaudhary and Ramsinh Parmar have tendered their resignation today,’’ speaker Ramanlal Vora said.
With the new political equations, Patel will need 44 votes as the assembly’s size has reduced from 182 to 176 in the last two days.
Between Shah and Irani, the BJP will need 90 votes.
Given, the BJP at present has 121 MLAs, the party will have 31 votes for the third candidate.
Cross-voting in the presidential poll revealed that Congress was losing 11 of its MLAs.
Believing that they have the support of the five remaining Congress MLAs who cross-voted (six having resigned), the BJP has fielded candidates for all three seats up for grabs. But for third candidate to win, the party will need an additional 5 votes.
If those five Congress MLAs indulge in cross-voting again, Ahmed Patel will still be in the clear if he gets the remaining 46 Congress votes. The party had 52 MLAs before the resignations in the last two days.
Two NCP votes and a vote of BJP rebel MLA Nalin Kotadia make matters more piquant.
Chottu Vasava, a lone JD-U MLA, who refrained from voting in presidential poll, is expected to vote for the BJP, given the new reality of a BJP-JDU alliance coming to power in Bihar.
Besides, both the NCP MLAs were also seen by the side of Vaghela on a July 21 event when the veteran had announced his resignation as Congress Legislative Party Leader.