Rajya Sabha election 2020: Congress shifts its 65 Gujarat MLAs to 3 resorts.

Gujarat Rajya Sabha election 2020, Congress MLAs resign: The Congress has reportedly shifted its Gujarat MLAs to resorts in a bid to prevent defection ahead of the June 19 Rajya Sabha polls. The development comes after three of its MLAs resigned in last three days, reducing the Congress tally to 65 in the state.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the MLAs have been shifted to three different resorts in the state. A Congress leader said that it has been done to thwart any more resignations.

The MLAs were shifted to resorts on Saturday. The MLAs are staying at three different resorts in Ambaji (Rajasthan), Rajkot and Vadodara due to restrictions pertaining to gatherings in the time of the Coronavirus pandemic

MLAs from South and Central Gujarat have been put up at Aries Riverside Farmhouse in Umeta near Vadodara. Those from Saurashtra have been shifted to former party MLA Indranil Rajyaguru’s Neel’s City Resort near Rajkot.

The MLAs from North Gujarat have been shifted to Wild Winds Resort near Ambaji in the Rajasthan, currently ruled by the Congress.

Senior Congress leaders claimed that the decision to move the MLAs to “safe locations” was to keep them away from any lure by the BJP.

The Congress has alleged that the ruling BJP was trying to poach MLAs.

According to the IE report, two more MLAs are said to be on their way out. While one of them is said to be an MLA from Central Gujarat, another is from Saurashtra.

Since March this year, when the Rajya Sabha polls were first scheduled to be held, as many as eight Congress MLAs have resigned. While Karjan MLA Akshay Patel and Kaprada MLA Jitu Chaudhary resigned on Thursday, Morbi MLA Brijesh Merja resigned on Friday.

The BJP-ruled Gujarat is also expected to witness a close contest. While elections will be held for four seats, both the BJP and Congress have fielded five candidates. The BJP has fielded Abhay Bharadwaj, Ramilaben Bara and Narhari Amin while Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki are in the fray from the Congress.