Shankersinh Vaghela fails to keep his word, doesn't vote for Ahmed Patel
Vaghela, who had quit the Congress on his 77th birthday on July 21, had said at the time that he would resign as MLA after the Rajya Sabha election
Former chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela did not vote for senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel in Tuesday's Rajya Sabha election.
Vaghela, who had quit the Congress on his 77th birthday on July 21, had said at the time that he would resign as MLA after the Rajya Sabha election, and that his vote in the poll would be reserved for his friend Ahmed Patel.
On Monday, Vaghela did not comment when asked by reporters who he would vote for, but again described Patel as a friend.
However, talking to reporters after casting his vote at the Secretariat in Gandhinagar, Vaghela announced that he had not voted for Ahmed Patel.
"Since Ahmed Patel is going to lose the election, I have not given my vote to him," Vaghela said matter-of-factly.
The former CM said that Congress was not even sure that all its 44 MLAs would vote for its nominee, and hence had no chance of winning.
He, however, refused to take the blame for his flip-flop saying, "I tried hard to explain the situation to the Congress, but the party didn't listen. I was left with no option but to quit."
Two other dissident Congress MLAs — Raghavji Patel and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, who were accompanying Vaghela — too said that they had voted for the BJP.
Lashing out at Vaghela and other legislators who had resorted to cross-voting, Congress MLA Gyasuddin Sheikh said those MLAs who had voted against the party whip are traitors.
Flip-flops
Vaghela, while quitting the Congress on July 21, had said that he will resign from Assembly only after the Rajya Sabha election and that his vote in the poll would be reserved for his friend Ahmed Patel.However, after the vote on Tuesday, Vaghela announced that he did not vote for Patel since he was going to lose the election.