6 Gujarat Lawmakers Exit Congress In 24 Hours. Target: Ahmed Patel

Ahmedabad: Ahead of a crucial election next month, the Congress has lost six lawmakers in Gujarat in the last 24 hours, a plan allegedly parented by former leader Shankersinh Vaghela, who's out to draw blood after he was told he would not be the party's Chief Ministerial candidate.

Three of the legislators who have quit have already joined the BJP. None will be eligible to vote in the Rajya Sabha election on August 8. But their deletion from the Congress' rolls jeopardises the career of Ahmed Patel, who is Political Secretary to the party's No 1, Sonia Gandhi.

Gujarat has three seats to decide for the Rajya Sabha in this election. BJP chief Amit Shah and union minister Smriti Irani are placed to easily win two. Mr Patel, who has served four terms already in the Rajya Sabha, is getting pushed further away from the third. A loss would decidedly dent the party's morale and expose new weaknesses ahead of the state election in December.
 To get re-elected, Mr Patel needs 44 votes (based on the current strength of the assembly). The Congress is down to 51 and more resignations are expected. And the BJP has put up a relative of Mr Vaghela, Balwantsinh Rajput, as its candidate against Mr Patel, just hours after it acquired him from the Congress.

On record, Mr Vaghela said on his 77th birthday celebration last week that he was purged by the Congress. It was forced to punish him after he shepherded 11 Congress lawmakers, all loyal to him, into cross-voting in the election for President of India - they chose the BJP's candidate.

Mr Vaghela quit the BJP for the Congress in 1996. He says he will not return to the ruling party, but has given every indication of intensive labour to help the BJP.
 Mr Shah has decreed Mission 150 for the BJP ahead of December's state election. The party currently holds 121 seats in Gujarat, which is has governed for nearly two decades. Mr Shah says it must add to that number as a special thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his home state.

The Congress today did not refer to Mr Vaghela's fingerprints as it accused the BJP of "stealing" its legislators in Gujarat. The party's Renuka Choudhury claimed that its MLAs are being "threatened and coerced to switch sides".

None of the defectors can vote in the Rajya Sabha election - their switching of sides brings down the strength of the assembly. Which means that while Mr Patel will need the backing of fewer legislators to win, the BJP's candidate will also need fewer votes to defeat him.