BJP issues formal whip for Rajyasabha election, forbids use of NOTA

Gandhinagar:

Ruling BJP today issued a formal whip regarding tomorrow’s crucial Rajyasabha elections on 3 seats in Gujarat asking its MLA’s to not to vote for party candidates and not to use NOTA option.

Whip of the party Pankaj Desai said that the whip has been issued.

He said that the whip would even be binding for the so called dissident MLA of BJP, Nalin Kotadiya, who was elected on Gujarat Parivartan Party ticket which later merged with BJP.

‘The whip is of-course for all the 122 MLA’s of the party including Kotadiya,’ he said.

He however did not specify as to what the party would do if the dissident MLA from Dhari seat who has embarrassed the party on many earlier occasions with his anti party stands, did not follow the whip.

Notably the win of two of the 3 BJP candidates for as many seats, president Amit Shah and another BJP candidate and union minister Smriti Irani was almost certain while the fate of the third party candidate Balwantsinh Rajput who joined BJP after resigning from Congress was hanging in balance along with the sole Congress candidate Ahmed Patel, the political secretary of Sonia Gandhi despite Congress’ claim of having enough numbers. He needs the support of 45 MLA’s for getting a fifth time entry in to the upper house. In 182 member assembly, BJP has 122 seat including dissident Kotadiya , Congress 51 (along with 7 of Vaghela camp) and NCP 2 and JD U 1.

The NOTA option has made the election scenario even more interesting with all kind of speculations and in the ‘war like situation’ for every single first preference vote even Kotadiya also matters.

Congress whip Shailesh Parmar had issued its whip some days back asking its MLA’s to only to vote for Patel and neither to use NOTA nor the second or third preference votes.

DeshGujarat