Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India on May 22 announced biennial elections to four Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat, setting the stage for what is likely to be the Congress Party’s complete exit from the Upper House from the state for the first time since Gujarat was formed in 1960.
Polling for the seats will be held on June 18, with June 8 fixed as the last date for filing nominations. The four seats falling vacant in Gujarat are currently held by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Rambhai Mokariya, Narhari Amin and Ramila Bara, and Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil, whose terms end on June 21.
With the BJP commanding an overwhelming majority in the 182-member state Assembly, party leaders expect all four seats to go to the ruling party.
The BJP currently has 162 MLAs and two Independents, while the Congress has 12 MLAs, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has four and the Samajwadi Party has one. One MLA elected on an AAP ticket is unattached after his expulsion from the party.
The numbers leave the Congress without a realistic path to retain the lone Rajya Sabha seat it currently holds through Gohil. If the BJP secures all four seats, the Congress will cease to have any representation from Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha.
