Amid fear of more defections, Congress herds its Gujarat MLAs to Bengaluru ahead of Rajya Sabha polls

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Ahmedabad: In a late damage control after seven MLAs from Gujarat resigned from Congress in last 48 hours, the party shifted its 44 MLAs to Bengaluru, to prevent, what they call horse trading ahead of a crucial election in the state. 

The Congress decided to confine its 44 Gujarat MLAs outside the state until Rajya Sabha elections are held in Gujarat.

The development came hours after seven Congress MLAs decided to quit the party in the last two days. One of them, Balvantsinh Rajput, has been named as a candidate for the Rajya Sabha by the BJP.

The Congress accused the BJP of using "money and muscle power" to engineer defections by its MLAs in Gujarat ahead of the August 8 Rajya Sabha poll.

"To ensure BJP is not successful, 44 of us Congress MLAs are leaving from Gujarat for Bengaluru," Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar said.

"To hide their failure, BJP is trying to make sure our MLAs resign by offering money and through police pressure," he said.

Prior to the string of resignations by the Congress lawmakers, the BJP had 121 seats and the Congress had 57 in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly. The NCP has two seats, the JDU has one. There were no independent. The Congress party has now been reduced to 51 MLAs in the assembly in the 182-member Assembly.

Elections will be held on August 8 for three Rajya Sabha seats. 

The BJP has fielded its party chief Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani for the two seats, Congress has renominated Ahmed Patel, who is political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, for the third seat. 

The lawmakers, who resigned from Congress, are considered close to Shankarsinh Vaghela, who exited the Congress last week over the party's decision not to project him as Chief Minister in assembly elections due later this year.

Earlier today, in yet another blow to Congress, Vansda MLA Chhanabhai Chaudhary, Mansinh Chauhan from Balasinor, Ramsinh Parmar from Thasra and C.K. Raolji submitted their resignations to Speaker Ramanlal Vora.

Political sources say Chaudhary and Chauhan are expected to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But Parmar, Chairman of Amul Dairy, said he would not do that.

The developments come a day after three legislators resigned from the party and joined the BJP.

On Thursday, Congress Chief Whip in the Gujarat Assembly Balwantsinh Rajput and MLAs Tejashree Patel and PI Patel submitted their resignations to join the BJP. 

IANS cited unnamed sources as saying that another senior legislator Raghavji Patel is also likely to follow suit along with five others.

"I also want to go to the BJP and there are five others who are also preparing for it," IANS quoted Raghavji Patel, a legislator from Jamnagar (rural) constituency in Saurashtra, as saying. "We are frustrated. Nobody listened to our voice and took note of our aspirations," the veteran leader added.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad rejected the horse-trading claims made by the Congress and said, "The entire allegations of the Congress that the BJP is doing horse-trading in Gujarat is not only false and laughable but shows its utter desperation."

"A senior leader like Shankersinh Vaghela, former chief minister and the leader of opposition, has left the Congress. Three-time MLA and its chief whip Balwantsinh Rajput has left it too. Eminent doctor and its whip Tejashreeben Patel has left it. Does the Congress want to suggest that it has given important positions to such leaders who could be purchased?" Prasad told PTI.