Rajya Sabha polls 2020 | Congress moves Rajasthan MLAs to resort after fearing political coup by BJP: Here's all you need to know

Even as the coronavirus pandemic rages on in India, with Rajasthan closing its borders on June 10 after a surge in COVID-19 cases in the state, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is attempting to destabilise his government.

According to a report by news channel NDTV, Congress has now moved all of its MLAs to Shiv Vilas, a resort on the Delhi-Jaipur highway. This also comes ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls in the state, which are scheduled to be held on June 19.

So, is the Rajasthan government under threat? 

It doesn't seem like that — yet. However, speculations that the BJP is trying to poach Congress legislators began doing the rounds after Gehlot, on June 10, claimed that some of the MLAs from his party were being offered Rs 25 crore each to jump the ship.

Gehlot's statement came hours after the Congress took its MLAs to a Jaipur resort for a meeting ahead of the elections to three seats of the Rajya Sabha.

Moreover, the Chief Whip of Rajasthan Assembly, Mahesh Joshi, also wrote to the state's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) stating that legislators of the party were being "lured" like "Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka".

Although Joshi did not mention BJP in his letter, he implied as much by mentioning the states, where MLAs from ruling party switched to the BJP to engineer the fall of the state government.

The Congress in Rajasthan has 107 MLAs and the support of 12 Independents. The BJP, meanwhile, has 72 MLAs, with support of six more partners and Independents.

What is the deal with the Rajya Sabha elections?

There are three Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan. The Congress has nominated K C Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi for the elections while the BJP has fielded Rajendra Gehlot and Onkar Singh Lakhawat.

Observers had said the contest in Rajasthan was more or less clear, with two of the three seats expected to go Congress' way and BJP winning the remaining seat. However, by fielding two candidates, the BJP has complicated matters and has reportedly spooked the Congress leadership.

With its numbers, the Congress currently looks comfortable. However, if the BJP manages to gain support of the 12 Independents, it might have a shot at getting its second candidate elected as well.

According to experts, a similar strategy is being followed in Gujarat, where over seven of Congress' MLAs have resigned in the past few months. Three legislators resigned recently, and Congress leaders in Gujarat fear that more might follow suit.

But wait, isn't there an epidemic raging in the country?

Yes, but according to a report by The Hindu, BJP office-bearers feel that that the COVID-19 outbreak and the challenges that it presents have to be "lived with" while continuing with other essential activities, such as elections.

"There are many leaders in the party who have been looking at the way South Korea successfully conducted its polls in the midst of the pandemic and feel that we too need to get on with things," a senior office-bearer told the newspaper.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in India continued to rise, with almost 10,000 fresh infections being reported on June 10.