New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday expelled eight Gujarat MLAs for going against the party whip in Tuesday’s Rajya Sabha election in the state. The move comes just a day after the voting was held in Gandhinagar. In the high-stakes contest, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel was finally elected though only 43 of the state’s 51 Congress MLAs voted for him. The other eight MLAs voted for BJP candidate Balwantsinh Rajput.
After the party complained to the Election Commission, the votes of two of the eight MLAs were disqualified. All eight MLAs have been expelled for six years.
The expelled MLAs include former Gujarat CM Shankersinh Vaghela and his son Mahendrasinh Vaghela. After voting, Mr Vaghela had openly admitted that he didn’t vote for the official party candidate.
Mr Patel was declared elected around midnight, after a day-long drama, and after the vote of the JD(U)’s lone MLA Chotubhai Vasava swung the election in his favour. The JD(U) had wanted Mr Vasava to vote for the BJP, its new ally, but the legislator later asserted he had voted for Mr Patel.
