RS polls: Cong shifts 80 Rajasthan MLAs to Udaipur fearing horse trading

Over 80 Congress MLAs from Rajasthan are camping at a hotel in Udaipur ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections to four seats in which the party fears horse trading by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, party sources said on Friday.

Several ministers, including Parsadi Lal Meena, B D Kalla, Mamta Bhupesh and some independents like Suresh Tak, are present at the hotel in the lake city.

A bus carrying over 40 MLAs reached the hotel, where the party had held its 'Chintan Shivir' in May, around 2.30 am on Friday.

The bus left Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's residence with the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) on Thursday evening and stopped in Bhilwara where state Revenue Minister Ramlal Jat hosted a dinner.

Remaining MLAs of the party will reach the hotel according to their convenience, the sources said.

Later in the day, former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, along with one of the three candidates for the Rajya Sabha seat Pramod Tiwari and a few other MLAs reached Udaipur by air.

Talking to reporters at the Dabok airport in Udaipur, Pilot said the Congress has more than enough support to win three seats.

He said the Rajya Sabha election is contested on the basis of numbers in the assembly.

"The BJP wants to bat but does not want to come on the pitch," Pilot said.

He added that the BJP has supported an independent candidate in the RS election but those who were present at the time of Subhash Chandra's nominations were only BJP MLAs and there was not a single independent MLA at the time of nomination.

In Jaipur, Soldier Welfare Minister Rajendra Gudha, one of the six MLAs who won the 2018 assembly elections on the BSP symbol and merged with the Congress in 2019, increased the worries of ruling party by saying that the six MLAs got no respect in the Congress.

Gudha and the other five MLAs have not gone to Udaipur.

"The MLAs did not get the respect that they deserve," he told reporters in Jaipur.

Targeting AICC general secretary in-charge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken, Gudha said that he had made some commitment to him but failed to fulfil it.

Rajya Sabha elections to the four seats will take place on June 10.

The Congress has fielded three candidates and the BJP one.

The BJP has given support to media baron Subhash Chandra who has filed his nomination as an independent candidate.

Fearing horse trading for the seat contested by Chandra, the ruling Congress has decided to keep the party and other supporting MLAs together.

The Congress, with its 108 MLAs in the state Assembly, is set to win two seats.

After winning two seats, the Congress will have 26 surplus votes, 15 short of the required 41 to win the third seat.

On the other hand, the BJP has 71 MLAs in the state Assembly and is set to win one seat, after which it will be left with 30 surplus votes.

The party leaders claim the support of 126 MLAs, including 108 of the Congress.

It needs 123 MLAs to win three seats.