Since 2017 polls, number of Gujarat Congress MLAs will have fallen from 81 to 66
In a blow to the Congress before the upcoming polls for four Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat, two MLAs of the party have resigned, media reports claimed on Thursday. Polls to the four seats will be held on June 19. The Congress was looking to win two of the four seats; the resignations mean the party will have to be content with one.
Karjan MLA Akshay Patel and Kaprada MLA Jitu Chaudhary have resigned, according to reports. Some media reports indicate a third Congress MLA may also join them, helping the BJP to lay claim to a third Rajya Sabha seat, in addition to the two it is assured of winning.
“Two [MLAs quitting] 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," The Indian Express quoted a Congress leader as saying.
The number of Congress MLAs in Gujarat had fallen to 68 after five MLAs resigned in March ahead of the originally scheduled date of the Rajya Sabha polls; the elections were postponed on account of the coronavirus outbreak. The Congress had then resorted to sending off its MLAs to resorts in Rajasthan to allegedly ward off poaching attempts.
The Congress has witnessed a steady decline in its numbers in Gujarat since recording its best-ever performance in two decades in the 2017 Assembly polls, when it won 81 of the 182 seats. Since then, multiple Congress MLAs have resigned or crossed over to the BJP.
