Congress' Gujrat exodus has not ended

New Delhi: A day after the Congress tried to secure its 44 Gujarat MLAs by shifting them to a luxurious resort in Karnataka, two more MLAs indicated their wish to ditch the party in favour of the BJP.

If they do quit, soon after the party has lost eight MLAs, the chances of the senior party leader Ahmed Patel getting elected for a fifth Rajya Sabha term from Gujarat will be in jeopardy.

The two Congress MLAs — Raghavjee Patel from Jamnagar Rural and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja from Jamnagar North — have spoken openly about their disillusionment with the party and are in touch with the BJP’s top leadership.

Mr Patel, political secretary to the Congress president, is pitted against former Congress MLA and now BJP candidate, Balwantsinh Rajput.

While the BJP candidates for Rajya Sabha polls — party president Amit Shah and Union minister Smriti Irani — are expected to sail through, Mr Patel needs the vote of 43 MLAs.

As of now, two MLAs of NCP and 1 of JD(U) have pledged their support to Mr Patel.

Sensing trouble, senior Congress leaders in Delhi approached the Election Commission on Saturday to complain that the Gujarat government was “engineering” defections ahead of the 8 August elections for three Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat.

The EC said that it has directed the state government to “ensure proper security to all the MLAs and their family members”, and sought a report over Congress’ allegation.

An EC spokesperson said the Gujarat chief secretary has been asked to furnish a report to the poll panel in this context by the evening (5 pm) of July 31.

Six Congress MLAs quit the party recently, after senior leader Shankersinh Vaghela and his son, Mahendrasinh Vaghela, left the party.

If the two Congress MLAs from Jamnagar also quit the party, the Congress’ strength in Gujarat Assembly will come down to 47 MLAs. The strength of the Assembly will also be reduced from 182 to 172. Even in that scenario, each candidate would require 43 votes. With 35 spare BJP votes in his favour, Mr Rajput would need only eight more votes to defeat Mr Patel. If more Congress MLAs quit before August 8, it would take mammoth effort to get Mr Patel into the Rajya Sabha.

But keeping its flock together is also posing a problem for the party, hence the outing of 44 MLAs to Egleton Resort near Ramanagara in Congress-ruled Karnataka. A few senior Congress MLAs remain in Gujarat to plan strategy.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Raghavjee Patel said, “When I met Ahmed bhai recently, I cautioned him about this situation and urged him not to contest polls, as I already saw this coming. I firmly believe the Congress cannot win the Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat.”

He also confirmed that he has been in touch the top leadership of the BJP.

The other Jamnagar MLA, Mr Jadeja, said, “A large number of Congress workers are unhappy with the way the party is functioning. Though Raghavjee and I had made numerous representations about it in the past, the party high command has not given any satisfactory answer. I will take appropriate decision in the coming days.”

A Congress delegation consisting of Leader of Opposition Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, MPs Anand Sharma, Vivek Tankha and former Union Minister Manish Tewari submitted a memorandum to the EC, demanding a time-bound, high-powered, independent inquiry on charges of “horse trading” and “misuse of state machinery” in Gujarat. It has also asked thet police officials accused of threatening Congress MLAs be transfered.

Speaking with reporters, Mr Anand Sharma said, “It’s an assault on democracy. How come a party that does not have enough MLAs is fielding a third candidate?”

Meanwhile, Gujarat Assembly Speaker Ramanlal Vora has said that the six Gujarat Congress MLAs who resigned ahead of the crucial Rajya Sabha polls were not under any pressure.