Rajya Sabha Elections 2020: Gujarat BJP MLA arrives in ambulance from hospital to vote

The voting for 19 Rajya Sabha seats began across eight states on Friday. Amid this, BJP MLA from Gujarat's Matar assembly constituency Kesarisinh Jesangbhai Solanki arrived in an ambulance to cast his vote in Rajya Sabha elections in Gandhinagar on Friday.

MLA reached polling booth from hospital

According to news agency ANI, the MLA who was hospitalised following a health issue reached the polling booth directly from the hospital. In Gujarat, the contest is likely to go down to the wire as both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress do not have absolute numbers in the assembly to get all their candidates to win on their own.

Number game in Gujarat

The BJP has fielded three candidates -- Abhay Bharadwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin -- for the four seats, while the Congress, which has seen desertions in its legislative ranks, has given tickets to two nominees Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki.

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The BJP, with its current numbers in the 182-member assembly, can win two seats, while the Congress on the basis of its House strength can bag one. A tough fight is expected for the fourth seat. Notwithstanding their respective numbers, both the parties have expressed hope that all their candidates will sail through.

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Considering that the effective strength of the assembly is reduced to 172, a candidate will require the support of minimum 35 MLAs to win, as per the RS election standard formula. Ten assembly seats are currently vacant -- eight due to resignations of Congress MLAs and two due to court cases.

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With 65 MLAs and one independent (Jignesh Mewani) supporting its candidates, the Congress will still need the backing of four more MLAs to win both the seats. While the BJPs House strength is 103, it will require the support of 105 MLAs to win the three seats. The faith of the fourth seat will be decided by the two Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) MLAs and one of the NCP.

Voting began at 9.00 am and is set to continue till 4.00 pm. The counting will take place at 5.00 pm. Polling is being held for the states of Andhra Pradesh (four seats), Gujarat (four seats), Jharkhand (two seats), Madhya Pradesh (three seats), Manipur (one seat), Meghalaya (one seat) and Rajasthan (three seats).

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(With agency inputs)