The Congress has decided to shift its MLAs in Rajasthan to a hotel in Udaipur ahead of then Rajya Sabha elections to prevent the possibility of cross-voting. The Rajya Sabha elections are scheduled for 10th June 2022. Independent legislators and MLAs of other parties supporting the Congress will also be shifted. According to party sources, this step is being taken because the party fears that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will buy the MLAs before the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections.
According to a report by Outlook Hindi, a source from the party has said, “The MLAs have been asked to reach Udaipur. Some were likely to leave yesterday and the rest are likely to reach Udaipur today.” The Congress party is likely to take its MLAs to Aravali Resort in Udaipur. The MLAs will stay at the hotel where the Congress Chintan Shivir was held last month. The MLAs will be taken on 2nd June 2022. This will be done after the ongoing training camp at Clark Hotel in Jaipur ends.
Not only Rajasthan but the Congress MLAs from adjacent state Haryana will also be taken to a resort in Rajasthan ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections. They will be taken to Jaipur. Besides, around 40 rooms have been booked in Jaisalmer’s Suryagarh. Congress is fielding its senior leader Ajay Maken from Haryana state. The situation for Congress has become worrisome because of an independent nominee’s candidature.
This is not the first time that Rajasthan Congress is keeping its MLAs in a hotel ahead of a Rajya Sabha election. Even in 2020, Congress MLAs in Rajasthan were shifted to a hotel. When Congress leader Sachin Pilot was unhappy with the party leadership and the treatment he was getting within the party, he had also taken 18 of the MLAs supporting him to a resort.
This time, the Congress party has decided to move its MLAs to a hotel after Subhash Chandra, supported by BJP, has filed his nomination form for the Rajya Sabha seat from Rajasthan state as an independent candidate. Subhash Chandra is currently a member of the upper house of the parliament and he represents Haryana state. His current term completes on 1st August. After Chandra filed his candidature, Rajasthan’s chief minister Ashok Gehlot had alleged that BJP is involved in the horsetrading of MLAs.
Gehlot made the statement when the ruling Congress, with its 108 MLAs in the state assembly, is set to win two of the four seats in the Rajya Sabha elections. 41 votes are needed to win a Rajya Sabha seat in Rajasthan state. After securing 2 seats, the Congress party is left with 26 spare votes which is 15 less than the required tally for the third seat.
On the other hand, BJP has 71 MLAs in the state assembly and it is all set to win at least a seat in the Rajya Sabha. BJP has a surplus of 30 votes which is 11 less than the magic figure it needs for the second seat. Interestingly, Gehlot and Congress candidates had held a meeting with 10 of the 13 independent MLAs in Rajasthan on Tuesday 31st May 2022.
On Wednesday, BJP leader and deputy leader of the opposition in the state assembly Rajendra Rathore alleged that the Congress is an expert in ‘Elephant Trading’. Rathore was essentially implying towards Bahujan Samaj Party, whose election symbol is an elephant. It is notable that six BSP MLAs in Rajasthan left their party and joined Congress in 2019.
Rathore further said, “This time too, the Chief Minister has hinted at keeping all congress MLAs together before the Rajya Sabha elections. The Chief Minister has set a record of fortification. Why is he afraid? And who is bearing the expenses for this?”
BSP also wrote to Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra and Speaker C P Joshi demanding that the six MLAs of BSP who joined the Congress be barred from voting in the Rajya Sabha polls. BSP state president Bhagwan Singh Baba said in the letter that a case is going on against the MLAs in the Supreme Court under the anti-defection law. “In such a situation, these six MLAs should be stopped from voting in the Rajya Sabha elections as the BSP has decided that it will not support any party or independent in the Rajya Sabha elections”, said Baba.
Reacting to this, state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra said six MLAs have merged with the Congress and are now party MLAs.
