In a major blow to the opposition Congress ahead of the June 19 Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from the state, two party MLAs have resigned as members of the Legislative Assembly.
The Congress has accused the BJP of trying to break the opposition party to win the Rajya Sabha polls. However, the ruling BJP dismissed the charge, saying MLAs were leaving the Congress as they were “unhappy” with the party leadership.
Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi said Congress MLAs Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary met him on Wednesday evening and handed over their resignations.
“I have accepted their resignations. They now cease to be the legislators,” Trivedi told reporters in Gandhinagar on Thursday.
Patel represented Karjan seat of Vadodara while Chaudhary won from Kaprada seat of Valsad.
Since March, seven Congress MLAs have so far resigned, including Patel and Chaudhary.
In the 182-member state Assembly, the ruling BJP has 103 MLAs and the opposition Congress now has 66 legislators.
Of the four Rajya Sabha seats from the state set to go for polls on June 19, three are currently held by the BJP and one by the Congress.
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