High political drama played out in Ahmedabad on Friday following the resignation of three more Congress legislators from Gujarat Assembly during the day. The party booked a chartered flight to ferry its remaining 46 MlAs from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru in order to keep them away till the Rajya Sabha elections.
This dramatic exercise to take MlAs away from Gujarat has been done in order to stop exodus from the Congress. However, some of Congress legislators could not be contacted. They were given message on social media platform to reach the airport by 11.30 pm. It is believed that those in queue to exit the party, deliberately switched off their mobile phones and went to untraceable locations.
Meanwhile, BJP national president Amit Shah, Union Minister Smriti Irani, and the new entrant in the saffron brigade Balwantsinh Rajput filed the nomination for the elections to three Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat. The election is slated on August 8. Rajput was chief whip of the Congress in the Gujarat
Assembly but after resigning as MlA on Thursday afternoon he not only joined BJP instantly but also became RS candidate of the party.
In the past 24 hours as many as six Congress MlAs not only resigned from the State Assembly but also from the primary membership of the party. On Thursday afternoon Balwantsinh Rajput, Tejashree Patel and Prahlad Patel had resigned. On Friday morning, Vansda legislator Chhanabhai Chaudhury, Thasra legislator Ramsinh Parmar and Balasinor legislator Mansinh Chauhan put in their papers from Congress and quit as Members of Gujarat legislative Assembly. With this development strength of the Congress in the State Assembly stands reduced from 57 to 51.
“It is shocking for the party high command as those who were believed to be staunch Congressmen till Wednesday have suddenly left the party without prior notice,” lamented a senior Congress leader, who fears that at least 20 more party MlAs are in queue to put in their papers.
AICC media in-charge Randeep Surjewala, who rushed from Delhi to Ahmedabad for damage control, accused BJP’s national president Amit Shah of utilising money and muscle power to destabilise his party in the State.
Terming the ongoing exodus episode akin to ‘divide and rule policy’ of British, Surjewala said the new British (BJP) is playing the same trick to grab power. Talking to reporters, he said that democracy in the country was passing through its toughest period.
Replying to the Congress allegation, Gujarat’s deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel reiterated that ruling party has nothing to do with whatever is happening in the Opposition party as it was their internal matter.
In such scenario it would be difficult for Congress general secretary Ahmed Patel to retain his RS seat. Patel is seeking fifth term to the Upper House from the State and requires at least 46 first preference votes to make it. The BJP, including one dissident legislator Nalin Kotadia, has 122 members, while Congress, including Shankersinh Vaghela, officially now has 51 legislators.
If six more Congress MlAs quit the party, it would be a great disaster for not only Patel but the grand old political outfit also. Vaghela has already quit the party and announced that he would vote for Patel on July 21, but later threatened to put in his papers if Congress in-charge Ashok Gehlot did not withdraw his statement against him. Gehlot had said that Vaghela quit the party under pressure as CBI and ED had raided his residence.