Ahmedabad : Despite shifting legislators to resorts on Saturday, Congress has lost 4 MLAs on Sunday when they showed up in front of Speaker to put in their resignations. The upheaval comes ahead of Rajya Sabha elections due on 26 March.
Congress had been moving its legislators into States it rules outside Gujarat. When the first batch of 14 MLAs were transported to Jaipur, 4 were found missing upon arrival – the very same leaders who tendered their resignations today. The MLAs deserting Congress includes Sombhai Patel and JV Kakkadia.
BJP has 103 seats in te 182-seat Gujarat Assembly, while Congress has 73, Bharatiya Tribal Party 2 and NCP 1, apart from there being one independent legislator. BJP, which has fielded 3 candidates for the upcoming elections needs total of 111 votes to win the 3rd seat and Congress will need 74 votes to win two seats it is contesting for.
Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani on Friday signaled his support for Congress while Congress relies on cross-voting from Congress MLAs for its 3rd seats.
