Gujarat: Three Congress MLAs resign in support of Shankersinh Vaghela

NEW DELHI: In another major setback to the Congress in Gujarat, its three legislatures --Balwant Sinh Rajput, Tejshri Patel and P I Patel-- considered close to Shankarsinh Vaghela have resigned from the party. All three MLAs have tendered their resignation in support of Shankersinh Vaghela, who also quit as leader of the opposition. Restraining the MLAs was crucial as eight of the Congress's 56 MLAs voted for the NDA's Ram Nath Kovind in the presidential election. At least 45 MLAs are needed to get a person elected to the Rajya Sabha, most probably Congress president Sonia's political sectary Ahmed Patel in this case. The BJP hopes that it can ally with Shankersinh Vaghela to get support from the MLAs loyal to him. Though giving Congress a sigh of relief rebel leader Shankersinh Vaghela on Wednesday pledged support to Ahmed Patel who filed his nomination for the August 8 Rajya Sabha election. Vaghela, who quit as Leader of Opposition, had said he will continue as an MLA till the elections to the Upper House on August 8. He is believed to have the backing of at least a dozen MLAs. The terms of nine Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat and West Bengal are ending on August 18. These include Irani, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Trinamool Congress leader Derek O' Brien. Out of the 9 retiring members, four are from the Trinamool Congress, two from the Congress, two from the BJP and one from the CPI-M. The retirement of Ahmed Patel (Cong), Dilipbhai Pandya (BJP) and Irani (BJP) -- all from Gujarat -- is due on August 18. The tenure of members from West Bengal -- O'Brien (TMC), Debabrata Bandhopadhyay (TMC), Pradip Bhattacharya (Cong), Yechury (CPM), Sukhenduhakhar Roy (TMC) and Dola Sen (TMC) ends on August 18. (With inputs from agencies)