Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel may have won a Rajya Sabha seat against great odds but the mystery about the one extra vote that proved decisive for him still remains amid claims and counterclaims and speculation.
Mr. Patel received a total of 44 votes to retain the seat.
Now, only 43 legislators of his party voted for Mr. Patel and the question of who the other voter remains unanswered.
Two possibilities
The two possibilities are that the vote came either from JD(U) legislator Chhotubhai Vasava, who made a series of flip-flops during the day of voting, or from the NCP’s Jayant Patel, who openly claimed he voted for Mr. Patel.
“I have voted for Ahmedbhai because the BJP in its 22-year-old rule in Gujarat has always ignored the tribal community,” Mr. Vasava said after the voting on Tuesday.
However, Mr. Vasava was escorted to the polling venue by BJP leaders I.K. Jadeja and Bharatsinh Parmar and before he reached Gandhinagar to cast his vote, he travelled in a car with Congress leaders.
Both, the BJP and a section of Congress leaders claim that Mr. Vasava voted for them despite his flip-flops.
Interestingly, Mr. Patel had gone to “thank” Mr. Vasava immediately after he cast his ballot.
However, before the voting, Mr. Vasava told The Hindu that “he was undecided who to vote for because party leader Nitish Kumar had asked him to vote for the BJP candidate while Sharad Yadav had told him to back Mr. Patel.”
As for the NCP, it has two legislators in Gujarat who each voted for each party. Kutiyana legislator Kandhal Jadeja publicly said he voted for the BJP candidate and he even touched the feet of Mr. Amit Shah while arriving at the voting booth to cast his ballot.
Another party legislator, Mr. Jayant Patel said he voted for the Congress nominee because the NCP was part of the UPA alliance nationally.
Following the voting, the NCP even issued a press statement saying one of its legislators voted against the party whip. It claimed that the whip was issued to both legislators to vote for Mr. Patel.
Another speculation
There is another speculation also regarding the claim of the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) MLA Nalin Kotadia, who said he voted against the BJP. However, BJP leaders have categorically denied cross-voting by him and termed his claim meant to placate his Patidar community, which is on a collision course with the ruling party over the issue of reservation.
Before the Rajya Sabha polls, the Congress had 57 legislators, more than enough to ensure Mr. Patel’s fifth term in the Upper House. However, just ahead of the battle, Leader of the Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela resigned from the party, and it was followed by a flood of resignations and defections from the party. Immediately after Mr. Vaghela’s open rebellion, six Congress legislators resigned from the Assembly, bringing down the party’s strength to 51.
Out of those six who resigned, Mr. Balwantsinh joined the BJP and became its third candidate, which necessitated a contest instead of the unopposed election of members based on pro rata basis.