Gandhinagar: In a major setback for the opposition
Congress, two legislators from the party, Akshay Patel and Jitu Chadhury resigned from the party ahead of
Rajya Sabha elections.
Already, five MLAs had resigned from the party in March, bringing the tally of the party to 68 and with the recent resignations the number further stands reduced to 66.
Congress had fielded two of its candidates Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki while BJP had fielded three candidates Ramila Bara, Abhay Bharadwaj and Narhari Amin for the four seats going to polls on June 19.
Speaking to media, Gujarat Assembly speaker Rajendra Trivedi said that Patel and Choudhury submitted their resignations on Tuesday evening, which he had accepted after proper verification.
Congress would need at least 70 votes to send both of its candidates to the upper house which now looks almost an impossibility with BJP negotiating with 2 member Bharatiya Tribal Party and 1 member NCP.