Congress sends BK Hariprasad, Rajni Patil as AICC observers to Ahmedabad

The Congress on Sunday decided to send party leaders BK Hariprasad and Rajni Patil as All India Congress Committee (AICC) observers to Ahmedabad to talk to the MLAs who had earlier resigned from the party. According to reports, the two leaders will be reaching the city on Monday. 

On Sunday, Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi announced that he had accepted the resignation of 4 Congress MLAs. According to reports, he is likely to reveal the identity of the aforesaid members in the state Assembly on March 16. This implies that the strength of Congress in the Assembly has reduced to 69 from 73. 

Gujarat Rajya Sabha polls

As per the numerical strength of the political parties in the Gujarat Assembly, both the Congress and the BJP are set to win 2 Rajya Sabha seats each. However, in a surprise move, a third BJP candidate filed his nomination too.

Read: Madhya Pradesh Speaker confirms MLAs who have resigned will have to meet him personally

Following this, the Congress party began shifting its MLAs to Rajasthan in batches reportedly fearing the possibility of horse-trading. Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki are the Congress nominees for the Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat while the BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramila Bara, and Narhari Amin.

The counting of votes will take place on March 26 itself after the voting concludes. Apart from the 4 seats in Gujarat, 51 other Rajya Sabha seats across 16 seats falling vacant in April 2020 will also go to the polls. 

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Congress MLA refutes reports

Earlier, Gujarat Congress MLA Virjibhai Thummar refuted reports that some party MLAs had resigned ahead of the Rajya Sabha election. Conceding that there were rumours to this effect, he maintained that Somabhai Patel, a legislator speculated to have resigned was still in touch with the Congress party. At the same time, he acknowledged that attempts to contact another MLA JV Kakadia had been unsuccessful. 

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(With ANI Inputs)