Ahead of the Rajya Sabha
polls slated for March 26, the lone NCP MLA in the Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday announced his support to the ruling BJP, which is shoring up numbers to win three of the four seats on offer.
The Nationalist Congress Party is in alliance at the national level, including in neighbouring Maharashtra, with the Congress.
"I had a meeting with minister of state for home Pradeepsinh Jadeja after which I decided to support the BJP for the Rajya Sabha polls. I took this decision as I am hopeful I will be able to complete pending work in my constituency with the help of the Gujarat government," said Kandhal Jadeja, NCP MLA from Kutiyana in Porbandar district.
The Congress, which had 73 members in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, is now down to 68, after five legislators quit, and is trying to protect its flock by flying them to Jaipur.
State Home Minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja said the NCP MLA's support will hopefully lead to the BJP winning three seats in the RS polls.
The NCP MLA's move comes despite the party's state president Shankarsinh Vaghela claiming that the former would toe the official line and support the Congress.
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"We are fighting BJP at the national level. The NCP and Congress are in alliance at national level, so we will direct our party MLA to vote for the Congress candidate," Vaghela had said.
Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda, speaking in Jaipur, said his party's high command was in touch with NCP leaders including its chief Sharad Pawar on this development.
For the four seats, while the BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin, Congress candidates are senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki.
In the 182-seat Assembly, the BJP has 103 seats, while the Congress is down to 68.
The Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) has two MLAs, the NCP one and there is an Independent MLA, Jignesh Mevani, who has already announced support for the Congress. Two seats are vacant due to legal issues.
As per the RS poll arithmetic, the BJP will require 108 votes to win three seats, while the Congress will need the support of 72 MLAs to win two seats.
The Congress has confirmed support of 69 MLAs, and the BJP of 106 MLAs, including two from BTP and one from NCP.
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