Political / 2 Gujarat Congress MLAs resign ahead of Rajya Sabha polls

Ahmedabad: The Congress has faced a major setback in Gujarat ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections, after at least two of its MLAs resigned, and a third one gears up to make an exit, said. This means that the Rajya Sabha elections could be a close contest this time as well.

The MLAs of Karjan and Kaprada – Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary – respectively have submitted their resignations.

A senior AICC leader told The Indian Express, “Two I can confirm. Third we are trying to confirm. It was expected. It is Gujarat. If they (BJP) can do this sort of thing in other states…Gujarat is their home ground.”

Earlier in March, Congress had already had a setback when five of their MLAs had resigned, bringing their tally down to 68. The recent development has further hurt their chances to secure two out of the four Rajya Sabha seats.

The BJP already had two candidates Abhay Bhardwaj and Ramilaben Bara, and has fielded a third one – Narhari Amin, a former Congress leader.

Rajeev Satav who is the AICC in charge of Gujarat tweeted saying, “The BJP government of Gujarat does not have the money to improve the health facilities of Gujarat even in the time of this disaster, but there is money for the purchase of MLAs. BJP's priority is only power, not the suffering of the people.”