Road to Rajya Sabha & the suspense that unfolded: 10 points

The victory charts for BJP stalwarts Amit Shah and Smriti Irani were no-brainers. It was the tussle between BJP nominee Balwantsinh Rajput and senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel that grabbed all eyeballs.

Gujarat Rajya Sabha polls winners: Amit Shah, Ahmed Patel and Smriti Irani (Left to right)

New Delhi / Ahmedabad: Yesterday's nail-biting battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress to three Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat had everyone on the edge. The victory charts for BJP stalwarts – Amit Shah, who finally debuted as an MP in the Parliament, and Smriti Irani – were no-brainers. It was the tussle between BJP nominee Balwantsinh Rajput and senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel that grabbed all eyeballs. By the end of the night, Patel managed to clinch a close battle, returning to the Upper House of the Parliament for a fifth term, but not without a fair share of drama.

Here's a quick look at how the events of the day unfolded and the suspense that followed:

1. An hour into the Rajya Sabha polls, former Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela revealed that he did not vote for Ahmed Patel. His reason: “Who votes for a losing side – the Congress?” He claimed, Patel will lose the elections and "not even win 40 votes."

2. Next, started emerging the reports of cross-voting. Two congress legislators – Bhola Bhai Gohil and Raghavji Bhai Patel – voted for BJP. Meanwhile, few Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] MLAs voted for BJP, as opposed to Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) voted for Congress. In short, mayhem ensued.

3. Congress member Shailesh Bhai Parmar approached the Election Commission, requesting it to reject the votes of Bhola Bhai Gohil and Raghavji Bhai Patel for violating election procedures. Parmar claimed the duo showed their marked ballot papers to others beyond the authorized representatives of Congress Party. The Returning officer (RO), DM Patel, present in Gujarat Assembly rejected his request.

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4. A Congress delegation including RS Surjewala and RPN Singh, reached the Election Commission's office in the evening, stating that the RO “had improperly rejected the objection” as the two voters “violated the secrecy of votes by not complying with the voting procedure”. Contesting candidate Ahmed Patel also sent an email to Commission requesting to cancel the two votes. The delegation further asking the poll body to verify their claims by watching the video recordings of the election procedure.

5. Amidst all this, a BJP delegation led by Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad met the chief poll body, requesting for the early announcement of counting. They claimed “the concept of secrecy in elections to RS is no more valid because the Parliament itself has made elections to the Rajya Sabha through open ballot.”

6. Following these developments, the Election Commission asked the RO not to declare the results and viewed the relevant parts of the video.

7. Accepting Congress' demand, the poll body declared the votes of the two Congress members invalid. It said, electors can can show their ballot papers only to authorized party representative.

8. The Returning Officer then segregated the two invalid votes before declaring the final results. A total of 176 electors out of 182 had voted in the Gujarat Rajya Sabha seats.

9. Shah and Irani's won their RS seats easily with 46 votes each. Patel, who managed to secure 44 votes, defeating Congress defector and BJP nominee Balwantsinh Rajput.

10. The warm-up to Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections 2017 witnessed several interesting bends at every corner. First, six Congress legislators, including Shankersinh Vaghela, exited the party and joined BJP. The party then flew out its 44 MLAs to Karnataka in a bid to save its legislatures from alleged horse-trading by the BJP. Last week, the Income Tax Department raided Karnataka Energy Minister DK Shivakumar`s resort, where the 44 MLAs were staying.

BJP, on the other hand, accused Congress MLAs of neglecting their duty in the flood-hit state.