Third Congress lawmaker resigns ahead of Rajya Sabha polls on June 19

Five Congress legislators earlier resigned from the assembly in March. Congress leader Ahmed Patel accused the BJP of horse-trading amid the Covid-19 crisis. But the BJP rejected the allegations.

Another Congress MLA tendered his resignation to Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi on Friday, news agency ANI reported.

“I have accepted it. He is Brijesh Merja, the MLA from Morbi,” ANI quoted Trivedi as saying.

Two Congress lawmakers resigned on Thursday, in a setback to the party ahead of the June 19 elections to four Rajya Sabha seats from the state.

The resignations prompted the Congress to divide its remaining legislators into seven groups and rush them to different places in the state to prevent further desertions until the polling is held, party functionaries aware of the matter said. The Gujarat seats are going to the polls along with 20 others across the country.

Five Congress legislators earlier resigned from the assembly in March. Two more seats remain vacant in the state assembly because of litigation due to poll-related disputes.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 103 seats needs two more votes to win three of the four Rajya Sabha seats.

The Congress is banking on Bharatiya Tribal Party’s two, the lone legislator of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and independent lawmaker Jignesh Mevani to win two seats. The BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramilaben Bara, and Narhari Amin. Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki are the Congress’s candidates.

Congress leader Ahmed Patel accused the BJP of horse-trading amid the Covid-19 crisis. “Isn’t Gujarat government the only one in the world where: 1) Government has abandoned people in the middle of a global pandemic? 2) Refused to fund train fare for poor migrants? 3) But leaves no stone unturned to fund horse-trading activities for a Rajya Sabha election?” he tweeted.

The BJP rejected the allegations, saying Congress legislators were leaving the party as they were “unhappy” with its leadership. “I believe that some more Congress legislators would also resign in the near future. They are leaving Congress because they are unhappy with the party leadership,” Amin said.