Congress 'confident of winning' 2 Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan: Avinash Pande

The Congress is "confident of winning" in the two Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan, its leader Avinash Pande asserted on Saturday and said the BJP will face a befitting defeat in "this blatant attempt to throttle democracy". 

The Congress has accused the BJP of attempting horse-trading ahead of the June 19 election and has assembled its MLAs and legislators supporting the party-led government in the state at a hotel. The BJP has, however, dismissed the charge.

"We are confident of winning Rajya Sabha elections seats from Rajasthan. We have an adequate mandate, support of Independents, and other parties. We have more than the required number for the majority. The BJP will face a befitting defeat in this blatant attempt to throttle democracy," said Pande, who is in charge of party affairs in Rajasthan.

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Tussle over Rajya Sabha seat

The Congress has fielded KC Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi as its candidates. The numbers in the state assembly suggest that the Congress would win two seats in the Rajya Sabha elections on June 19 and the BJP one. But the BJP has fielded two candidates, triggering charges that it was counting on horse-trading.

As the Congress tried to keep its flock together, Deputy chief minister and party state unit chief Sachin Pilot on Saturday left for New Delhi by road, party sources said. Pilot attended a meeting at the hotel where party legislators are camping to frame the party's strategy for the election, they said. He is likely to return to Jaipur on Sunday, the sources said. 

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