Speaking with reporters at Ahmedabad on Monday, Patel expressed confidence that he would win.
For senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, Tuesday's Rajya Sabha election may be the toughest test of his four-decade-old political career. Numbers suggest that Patel, who has been a Rajya Sabha member since 1993, and is eyeing a fifth straight term in the Upper House, may just scrape through, but a lot depends on 'ifs and buts'. Patel needs 45 votes to win.
While the strength of Congress MLAs in the Assembly is 51, seven MLAs, including Vaghela who has quit the Congress party, have not confirmed whether they will vote for Patel or not. This leaves the number of MLAs the party can count on at 44, one short of what is needed to win.
Speaking with reporters at Ahmedabad on Monday, Patel expressed confidence that he would win.
"I am going to win and one of the BJP candidates will lose. I trust my MLAs. They are very committed; they did not go home even for 'Raksha Bandhan'. They don't want to go anywhere and is keen to cast their votes first," Patel said.
Patel sounded hopeful that two MLAs of Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party and lone JD(U) MLA Chhotu Vasava will vote for him, which would be enough for his victory. However, late in the evening, NCP MLA Kandhal Jadeja said he and his party MLA Jayant Patel would vote for Balvantsinh Rajput, the former Congress MLA who is contesting as BJP's third candidate.
Congress was also hopeful of getting the vote of Nalin Kotadiya, who was elected on Gujarat Parivartan Party ticket, which later merged with the BJP. Kotadiya, too, announced he would vote for the BJP candidates, and not Patel.
Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar said Patel had the numbers to win.
"All the 44 MLAs who had gone to Bengaluru will vote for Ahmedbhai. We believe the seven MLAs who didn't go to Bengaluru will also vote for him. If they don't follow the party whip, mandating that they vote for Ahmedbhai, they will be disqualified and barred from contesting any election for six years. None of them would want that," said Parmar.
However, the MLAs can avoid such a situation by submitting their resignations before the elections.
Though Patel and others sound confident, insiders admit that the situation is fluid, and things could change if any of their 44 MLAs indulge in cross-voting.
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