A day after it was reported that two Congress MLAs in Gujarat have quit, news emerged on Friday that one more legislator of the party has resigned.
Brijesh Merja, who is MLA for Morbi constituency in Rajkot, has resigned. Before quitting as a legislator, Merja also resigned from the primary membership of the Congress.
Two other Congress MLAs, Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary, resigned on Wednesday evening.
The resignations come just two weeks before elections to four Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat. With Merja's resignation, a total of eight Congress MLAs have resigned since March. Before the polls were announced, the Congress had 73 MLAs in the Gujarat Assembly and was looking to win two of the four seats. The ruling BJP, which has 103 MLAs in the Assembly, has been assured of winning two seats and is eyeing a win in the third seat.
Shakti Singh Gohil and Bharat Singh Solanki were nominated as candidates by the Congress. According to reports, the resignations mean that Solanki's chances of reaching the Rajya Sabha have dimmed.
The Congress won 81 seats in the 2017 Assembly polls in Gujarat, its best performance in years, but the party has seen a steady stream of exits. The resignation of Merja means that the Congress has now lost 16 MLAs. The Congress has accused the BJP of masterminding the exits.