Two Congress lawmakers in Gujarat have resigned ahead of the June 19 Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from the state.
Congress MLAs Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary met Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi on Wednesday and handed over their resignations.
Trivedi sold the reporters on Thursday that he has accepted their resignations. He said that the MLAs have resigned voluntarily.
Patel represented Karjan seat of Vadodara, while Chaudhary had won from Kaprada seat of Valsad.
Earlier on Wednesday, three Congress MLAs had met Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, triggering speculations of defection, reported news agency PTI.
PTI identified these MLAs as Kirit Patel, Lalit Vasoya and Lalit Kagathara. These lawmakers, however, refuted the rumours and claimed that they went to make a representation about various issues related to coronavirus and lockdown.
The Rajya Sabha election for four seats in Gujarat has been scheduled on June 19. It was supposed to be held on March 26. However, it was eventually postponed for an indefinite period in the wake of coronavirus pandemic and subsequent imposition of nation-wide lockdown.
While the Congress has fielded two candidates, BJP has fielded three, making it difficult for the Congress to win the second seat.
In March, five Congress legislators had tendered their resignations days after the elections were announced.
This had further reduced the Congress’s chances of retaining both the seats.
In the 182-member Assembly, BJP has 103 MLAs and the opposition Congress 68.
