Amid the spate of resignations of MLAs ahead of Rajya Sabha Polls, the latest development suggests that as many as 19 Congress MLAs in Gujarat have been shifted to a resort in Rajasthan.
This comes days after three Congress legislators submitted their resignations to Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi last week. The Congress party alleged that the BJP was trying to break the opposition ranks just before the elections. With this view, the party is eventually expected to move 26 MLAs to the resort, located in Rajasthan's Mount Abu. Read Here | Advantage BJP As Two Gujarat Congress MLAs Exit Party
In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the ruling BJP has 103 MLAs and the opposition Congress now has 66 legislators. The Congress has fielded two candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls while the BJP has pitted three. This makes it difficult for the Congress to win a second seat.
BJP candidates are Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramilaben Bara and Narhari Amin, and the Congress has announced names of senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki for the polls.
In March, five Congress legislators had tendered their resignations, days after the Rajya Sabha polls were announced. ALSO READ | Polling For 18 Seats Rescheduled For June 19, Detals Inside
The Rajya Sabha elections were earlier scheduled to take place on March 26. However, the polls were then postponed for an indefinite period due to Coronavirus outbreak and imposition of nationwide lockdown.
The Election Commission of India on Monday announced the revised date for Rajya Sabha elections. As per the latest development, polling for 18 Rajya Sabha seats will now be held on June 19.
The polling will be conducted for a total of 18 seats which include four seats in Andhra Pradesh; four in Gujarat; three each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan; two in Jharkhand and one seat each in Manipur and Meghalaya.