Sonia adviser Ahmed Patel unlikely to win Gujarat Rajya Sabha seat, BJP needs to "buy" one MLA: Congress insider

Ahmed Patel with Sonia Gandhi

By Our Representative
The Congress leadership may have flown 44 of its Gujarat MLAs to Karnataka to “safeguard” the Rajya Sabha seat of Ahmed Patel, political adviser to party chief Sonia Gandhi. But Congress insiders doubt if this this make Patel’s seat fully secure. The MLAs were flown by late evening Indigo flight to Bengaluru on Friday.
“Simple calculation suggests that Ahmed Patel might not be able to win. BJP needs to win over just one more MLA”, a top Congress source, refusing to be named, said, adding, “Considering that the total strength of the Gujarat state assembly is 182, divided between four candidates, Ahmed Patel would require the vote of 46 MLAs to win.”
The four candidates who fighting for three Rajya Sabha seats are BJP chief Ahmed Patel, Union minister Smriti Irani, Congress' Ahmed Patel, and Balwantsinh Rajput, who resigned from Congress to be a BJP candidate.
Pointing out that as of today, six of the Congress MLAs have resigned from the assembly, bringing down the strength of the state assembly to 176, the source said, “Divided by four, it means, Ahmed Patel needs 44 votes.”
“Congress’ original strength, before these resignations took shape, was 57. With these MLAs gone, the strength has gone down to 51. Considering that at least five other MLAs who are still in the Congress but might cross vote, the total votes that Ahmed Patel might come be down to 46”, the insider said.
These MLAs are Sankarsinh Vaghela, who created a ripple by resigning as leader of opposition (LoP), and confirmed loyalist MLAs – son Mahendrasinh Vaghela, CK Raulji, Amit Chaudhury and Raghavji Patel. It’s just a question of the BJP succeeding in wooing at least one MLA to ensure the defeat of Ahmed Patel , the insider points out.
Vaghela has resigned as LoP but has said would resign as MLA after the Rajya Sabha polls.
“The whole political game of wooing MLAs is going on at a time when two Nationalist Congress Party MLAs Kandal Jadeja, son of ‘godmother’ Santokhben Jadeja, and Jayant Patel alias Boski, are unlikely to vote for Ahmed Patel. Nor is it likely that well-known tribal leader Chhotubhai Vasava of the Janata Dal (United) vote for Ahmed Patel”, the insider insisted.

Vaghela meets Amit Shah on March 30

“It’s a touch and go situation”, the insider said, adding, “It’s a matter of spending a few crores, which his nothing for the BJP. Gujarat’s richest MLA, Balwantsinh Rajput, who was chief whip of the Congress legislative party, has already joined the BJP. According to our information, he has been given the task of carrying out the easy operation.”
The Congress crisis deepened following three Congress MLAs submitting their resignation to state assembly speaker Ramanlal Vora on Friday – Ramsinh Parmar, Mansingh Chouhan and Chhanabhai Chaudhary. They resigned a day after three MLAs – Balwantsinh Rajput, Tejashree Patel and Prahlad Patel -- quit the party to join the BJP.”
After resigning as leader of opposition, Vaghela declared that he would “surely” vote for Ahmed Patel and only then resign as MLA. But he later threatened that if Gujarat Congress in charge and ex-Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot does not withdraw “baseless” allegations against him, he wouldn’t vote for Ahmed Patel.
“I haven’t resigned as MLA”, he told newspersons on July 26. “I had promised Ahmed Patel my vote. However, Gehlot has made baseless allegations that BJP president Amit Shah pressured me to resign from LoP, otherwise a CBI or ED would be be moved against me. Gehlot must withdraw the statement and apologize in case Ahmed Patel wants my vote.”
Voting for Rajya Sabha takes place on August 8. As against three seats from Gujarat, there are four candidates in the field – BJP party chief Amit Shah, Union minister Smruti Irani, Congress’ Ahmed Patel, and Balwant Singh Rajput, the man who resigned from Congress two days back to join the BJP.
The recent presidential polls saw BJP candidate Ramnath Kovind get as many as 11 more votes of Gujarat MLAs than the BJP party strength; of these at least eight whom were from the Congress. “Here, the BJP requires 16 MLAs, hence the whole exercise of horse-trading”, the Congress insider said.

Comments

Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan raises concerns over Jharkhand Adivasis' plight in Assam, BJP policies

By Our Representative The Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan (Save Democracy Campaign) has issued a pressing call to protect Adivasi rights in Jharkhand, highlighting serious concerns over the treatment of Jharkhandi Adivasis in Assam. During a press conference in Ranchi on November 9, representatives from Assam, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh criticized the current approach of BJP-led governments in these states, arguing it has exacerbated Adivasi struggles for rights, land, and cultural preservation.

Promoting love or instilling hate and fear: Why is RSS seeking a meeting with Rahul Gandhi?

By Ram Puniyani* India's anti-colonial struggle was marked by a diverse range of social movements, one of the most significant being Hindu-Muslim unity and the emergence of a unified Indian identity among people of all religions. The nationalist, anti-colonial movement championed this unity, best embodied by Mahatma Gandhi, who ultimately gave his life for this cause. Gandhi once wrote, “The union that we want is not a patched-up thing but a union of hearts... Swaraj (self-rule) for India must be an impossible dream without an indissoluble union between the Hindus and Muslims of India. It must not be a mere truce... It must be a partnership between equals, each respecting the religion of the other.”

Right-arm fast bowler who helped West Indies shape arguably greatest Test team in cricket history

By Harsh Thakor* Malcolm Marshall redefined what it meant to be a right-arm fast bowler, challenging the traditional laws of biomechanics with his unique skill. As we remember his 25th death anniversary on November 4th, we reflect on the legacy he left behind after his untimely death from colon cancer. For a significant part of his career, Marshall was considered one of the fastest and most formidable bowlers in the world, helping to shape the West Indies into arguably the greatest Test team in cricket history.

Andhra team joins Gandhians to protest against 'bulldozer action' in Varanasi

By Rosamma Thomas* November 1 marked the 52nd day of the 100-day relay fast at the satyagraha site of Rajghat in Varanasi, seeking the restoration of the 12 acres of land to the Sarva Seva Sangh, the Gandhian organization that was evicted from the banks of the river. Twelve buildings were demolished as the site was abruptly taken over by the government after “bulldozer” action in August 2023, even as the matter was pending in court.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.

Will Left victory in Sri Lanka deliver economic sovereignty plan, go beyond 'tired' IMF agenda?

By Atul Chandra, Vijay Prashad* On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance won the presidential election. Dissanayake, who has been the leader of the left-wing JVP since 2014, defeated 37 other candidates, including the incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) and his closest challenger Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya.

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad* The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.

A Marxist intellectual who dwelt into complex areas of the Indian socio-political landscape

By Harsh Thakor* Professor Manoranjan Mohanty has been a dedicated advocate for human rights over five decades. His work as a scholar and activist has supported revolutionary democratic movements, navigating complex areas of the Indian socio-political landscape. His balanced, non-partisan approach to human rights and social justice has made his books essential resources for advocates of democracy.

Tributes paid to pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, who 'dodged' police for 60 yrs

By Harsh Thakor* Jagjit Singh Sohal, known as Comrade Sharma, a pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, passed away on October 20 at the age of 96. Committed to the Naxalite cause and a prominent Maoist leader, Sohal, who succeeded Charu Majumdar, played hide and seek with the police for almost six decades. He was cremated in Patiala.

Search This Blog