BJP’s S. Jaishankar, Jugalji Thakore file RS poll nominations in Gujarat

Gandhinagar, June 25: Union Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and BJP’s youth leader Jugalji Thakore filed their nomination papers in the Vidhan Sabha here on Tuesday for by-election to the two vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat.

With the Supreme Court rejecting the Congress plea for simultaneous voting for the two vacancies and asking it to move the Election Commission instead, the BJP is sure to win both the seats.

Congress candidates Chandrikaben Chudasma and Gauravbhai Pandya, who are unlikely to win, also filed their nominations on the last day of filing of papers. Voting for the two seats will be held separately in the Vidhan Sabha on June 5.

These vacancies were caused by Union Ministers Amit Shah and Smriti Irani’s resignations upon their election to the Lok Sabha last month.

Former Foreign Secretary Jaishankar had been inducted as External Affairs Minister into the Narendra Modi Government on May 30

Jaishankar, who joined the BJP on Monday, and Jugalji Thakore are both contesting their first-ever elections.

Amid much fanfare, they were accompanied by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, his deputy Nitin Patel, State BJP chief Jitu Vaghani and other ministers and BJP leaders when they reached the Assembly to file nominations.

The Election Commission’s announcement for separate voting for the two seats had been challenged by the Congress in the Supreme Court. The Commission had maintained that separate polling for vacant RS seats in a by-election has been in vogue for years.

When asked about the Congress’ allegation of the RS election process being “undemocratic”, Rupani told reporters that the Congress is a “drowning ship”. “They have no right to complain like this on the day they had imposed the Emergency (June 25, 1975).”

The BJP has a strength of 100 legislators in the 182-strong Assembly while the Congress, which has 71 members, is expecting one vote each from the BTP, NCP and an Independent. Interestingly, the Congress also apprehends cross-voting by rebel Congress MLA Alpesh Thakore and his supporting legislators for the BJP candidates.

To win a Rajya Sabha seat, a candidate will require at least 61 first-preference votes. With voting being separate for the two seats, the BJP is sure to win both.

According to some reports, the Congress could even have fielded former Prime Minister Dr Manmonah Singh for a Rajya Sabha seat in case the Supreme Court had upheld the party’s plea for separate polling.

Dr Singh retired from the Upper House on June 15