Ahmed Patel Manages To Retain His RS Seat; BJP Says It Will Challenge EC’s Verdict In Court

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel managed to retain his Rajya Sabha seat. Voting for the three Rajya Sabha seats was conducted on Tuesday. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani won their seats with ease.

Ahmed Patel barely managed to save his seat after the Election Commission (EC) declared invalid votes of two Congress MLAs who had crossvoted in favour of the BJP. Patel took to Twitter to express happiness. “This is not just my victory. It is a defeat of the most blatant use of money power,muscle power and abuse of state machinery,” he tweeted.

Congress had made candidature of Ahmed Patel as a matter of prestige. The BJP also left no stone unturned to win all the three seats. The saffron pitted Balwantsinh Rajput, a recent acquisition from the Congress, against Ahmed Patel knowing that Patel’s defeat will bring huge embarrassment for Sonia Gandhi since he is her political secretary. The decision to declare two crucial votes invalid was taken on a complaint of the Congress where it had said that two of its MLAs - Bhola Bhai Gohil and Raghav Bhai Patel - showed their votes to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani and independent candidate Balwantsinh Rajput instead of representative of Ahmed Patel.

Meanwhile Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani expressed disapproval over the Election Commission's decision to disqualify two rebel Congress MLAs over cross-voting and said that in the coming days, the BJP will move court for justice. Speaking to ANI, Rupani said, "Don't agree with EC's decision. In coming days we will fight a legal battle and will get justice." ANI