The Congress sought to herd its MLAs to a safe location again on Wednesday. This time, it was to a resort in Ambaji with the likelihood of moving them to Mt Abu to prevent horse-trading before the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled on July 5.
The party, however, maintained that the trip was part of a workshop organised for the MLAs, a mock poll to acquaint them with the electoral process.
Several Congress MLAs had defected to the ruling BJP, just before the Lok Sabha polls. Sources said the party fears that many of its MLAs, including rebels such as Alpesh Thakor and his supporters, are likely to cross-vote in favour of BJP.
External Affairs minister S Jaishankar and Jugalji Thakor are the party's nominees for the two Rajya Sabha seats. Congress nominees include Chandrika Chudasama and Gaurav Pandya. Chief whip Ashvin Kotwal told media persons that the decision to shift the MLAs to Mt Abu had nothing to do with the bypolls. "There is no question of any fear or pressure," Kotwal said. "Since there is no Assembly session till Monday, all the MLAs unanimously decided to utilise the mini-vacation and hold a workshop at Mount Abu. We will brainstorm and exchange ideas to chalk our strategy for the upcoming debates in the Assembly on the budgetary allocations."
Interestingly, some Congress MLAs, including rebel Alpesh Thakor will not be going to Mt Abu. Of the 71 members, 61 have reportedly left for Mt Abu. Some of them first visited the Jagannath temple and then met at the house of Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani before being packed into a bus for Ambaji, and from there to the hill station. "They are going to Ambaji for darshan and then will attend a one-day workshop on constitution, assembly procedure and parliaments rules regulations," said Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi, but did not clarify where the workshops will be held.
Alpesh Thakor said he had not received a directive from the party but confirmed he would be voting in the Rajya Sabha polls. He also dared anyone to come and paste the whip at his official MLA residence and warned them of dire consequences if they did so. According to media reports, Congress managed to paste the whip at his residence at some point on Wednesday. Alpesh had stoked fears on Wednesday, claiming several Congress MLAs were disgruntled with the party and willing to shift loyalties.
Another Congress MLA, Bharatji Thakore, first said he would not be going to Mt Abu, though he would follow the party's whip, but was later seen on the bus headed to Ambaji. Bharatji and MLA Dhavalsinh Jhala are both staunch supporters of Alpesh, though unlike him, they have not resigned from any party post. Jhala has criticised the move to shift MLAs outside Gujarat.
Mini-Vacation, Party Says
- BJP likely to win both seats in the Rajya Sabha polls
- In the 181 member Assembly, BJP has 100 MLAs while Congress has 71
- Three MLAs were disqualified for various reasons and four seats remain vacant
- One MLA each of BTP, NCP and an independent eligible to vote
- Each candidate needs 50% votes to win as the elections for the 2 seats are being held separately
- This means BJP candidates need just 88 votes to secure a victory
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