Four Gujarat Cong MLAS resign from state assembly

WITH THIS, THE STRENGTH OF THE CONGRESS PARTY IN THE 182-MEMBER GUJARAT ASSEMBLY HAS COME DOWN TO 69 FROM 73

AHMEDABAD: Four Congress MLAS in Gujarat have tendered their resignation to Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi ahead of the election to the four Rajya Sabha seats in the state to be held on March 26.

The four Congress legislators tendered their resignation on Saturday, which Trivedi has accepted.

Speaking to PTI on Sunday, Trivedi said he will announce the names of the legislators in the Legislative Assembly on Monday.

“Four Congress MLAS tendered their resignation to me on Saturday, and I will announce their names in the Assembly tomorrow,” he said.

With this, the strength of the Congress party in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly has come down to 69 from 73.

The Congress had on Saturday shifted its 14 MLAS to Jaipur fearing horse-trading by the ruli ng BJP ahead of t he Rajya Sabha polls.

The 14 MLAS are camping at the Shiv Vilas Hotel situated at Delhi Road.

They are: Lakhabhai Bharwad, Poonam Parmar, Geni Ben Thakor, Chandanji Thakor, Rit hvik Makwana, Chirag

Kalariya, Baldevji Thakor, Nathabhai Patel, Himmatsinh Patel, Indrajeet Thakor, Rajesh Gohil, Aji t s i nh Chauhan, Harshad Ribadiya and Pradyuman Singh Jadeja.

The BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin for the election.

Given i t s number i n t he Assembly, the ruling party can only win two seats unless it manages cross-voting from the opposition camp or ensure defection of Congress MLAS to win the third seat.

The Congress has fielded senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki.

Speaking to t h e medi a , Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said that there is a lot of mental pressure on these MLAS as the BJP is using money and muscle power to intimidate them ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled for March 26.

Out of the four Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat, three are currently held by the BJP while the Congress holds one seat.

“It is a reflection of how the BJP functions, forcing MLAS from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and now Gujarat to come and camp here. There is no democracy left in the nation. I had said earlier too that horsetrading is being done shamelessly. The MLAS need not have come here but for the environment created by the BJP. Look at the Madhya Pradesh MLAS who are locked up in Bengaluru,” Gehlot said.

Sources in the Congress said that Gehlot had a long discussion with veteran party leader Ahmed Patel over the Rajya Sabha elections and after the discussion, the Gujarat MLAS wer e s e n t t o J a i p u r from Ahmedabad.

Presently, the Rajasthan government is also hosting a host of MLAS from Madhya Pradesh in Jaipur as a political crisis is looming large over the Kamal Nath-led 15-month old MP government after party strongman Jyotiraditya Scindia jumped ship to the BJP earlier in the week.

Earlier, the Gehlot government had also hosted Maharashtra Congress MLAS, helping the party form the government in alliance with Shiv sena and NCP.