The Congress on Thursday remained unperturbed after three of its members from Gujarat joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said the deflection won't affect the party's prospects in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
"When elections are around the corner, it happens; people jump the wagon. This is not going to affect the prospects of the Congress, particularly in the Rajya Sabha elections," Congress MP Rajiv Shukla told ANI.
Earlier, three Congress MLAs P.I. Patel, Balwantsinh Rajput and Tejashree Patel resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP.
Rajput is a relative of Shankersinh Vaghela, who quit the Congress last week, while P.I. Patel was the legislator from Vijapur.
This comes at a time when Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) broke the 'Mahagathbandhan' with the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) after the CBI filed corruption charges against RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's son Tejashwi Yadav.
Nitish Kumar later formed an alliance with the BJP and took the oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the sixth time.
This also comes when the Rajya Sabha election is around the corner in Gujarat.
BJP chief Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani will contest for the Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)