New Delhi: The Congress party, which had been so far involved in trying to protect its Gujarat MLAs from being ‘poached’, has now moved its Rajasthan MLAs to a resort, expressing concerns about the opposition’s attempt to “destabilise” the state government.
The move comes days ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled to be held on 19 June.
The Congress has 107 MLAs, six of whom shifted from Mayawati’s BSP to the party last year. The party also has the support of 13 independent MLAs in the assembly, which has a total of 200 seats.
Earlier this week, party’s chief whip in the assembly, Mahesh Joshi, had written to Alok Tripathi, director-general of the state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau, alleging that attempts were being made to destabilise the government.
“Dirty attempts are being made to lure our MLAs and independent MLAs supporting us, along the lines of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, to destabilise a democratically elected government that is dedicated to public service,” the letter stated.
The BJP, which has 72 MLAs and the support of six independents in the assembly, has fielded two candidates — Rajendra Gehlot and Onkar Singh — for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.
To win, each candidate requires 51 first preference votes, and hence the BJP can only win one seat with its current strength. But the party has fielded another candidate, triggering fears of defections in the ruling camp.
A total of three Rajya Sabha seats are up for election in Rajasthan. The Congress has named K.C. Venugopal and Dalit leader Neeraj Dangi as its two candidates.
Also read: States tackled Covid crisis on their own for 2 months, Modi govt should help now: Ashok Gehlot
BJP offering Congress MLA Rs 25 crore each: CM
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has alleged that the BJP is trying to offer Rs 25 crore to each Congress MLA. The party also sent its chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala to meet the MLAs Thursday.
“He has come here to observe what is happening, and what are the ways in which the MLAs have been approached by the BJP,” a senior Rajasthan Congress leader told ThePrint.
Rajasthan is the latest state where the Congress is finding itself troubled waters — after what transpired in Madhya Pradesh earlier this year and Karnataka last year.
In Madhya Pradesh, the Kamal Nath-led Congress government fell in March after senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia switched to the BJP along with 22 of his loyalist MLAs. In July last year, the H.D. Kumaraswamy government collapsed in Karnataka after 16 MLAs and two independents supporting it resigned.
The BJP has, however, taken objection to the Congress’ allegations.
State BJP president Satish Poonia said the Congress was “putting a stain on the party to cover up its failure”. “It is surprising that those who played the game of horse trading for 55 years are blaming BJP. They have their internal differences,” Poonia told PTI.
Rajya Sabha polls latest bone of contention
In Gujarat, too, the Congress has shifted its MLAs to different resorts within and outside the state to keep its flock together.
There are four Rajya Sabha seats up for grabs in Gujarat in what is promising to be a tight race amid allegations of poaching. Last week, three Congress MLAs quit the party.
In the 2017 Gujarat state elections, the Congress had won 77 seats while the BJP won 99 seats, securing a narrow win in the 182-member House. However, with several Congress MLAs quitting or switching sides since the election results, the party count has now reduced to just 65 MLAs.
Now, the Rajasthan Congress is struggling with the same fears.
“This is a cautionary measure we had to opt for. There is a high possibility the BJP will try to swoop in at the last minute and do what it did in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka,” the leader quoted above said .“But we will try our best that the same story doesn’t get repeated in Rajasthan.”
Also read: States are going ahead with labour reforms, even if Modi govt is finding it hard to do so