Rajya Sabha elections: Why Gujarat will be the state to watch

Ahmedabad, June 19: The state to watch out in today Rajya Sabha elections is Gujarat.

There are four seats each in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, three each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. In Mizoram, Meghalaya and Manipur there is one seat each.

In the 182 MLAs in Gujarat, 172 are eligible to vote. These are 103 from the BJP, 65 from Congress, two from BTP and one from the NCP. It may be recalled that the court had restrained voting for two as well as eight other MLAs who had walked over to the BJP from the Congress.

In Gujarat, there are four seats up for grabs. The math was simple at first and the BJP and Congress could have sent two leaders each. However, the BJP has fielded three candidates and is expecting cross voting by the Congress.

The Congress initially had the numbers to win two. However, the NCP MLA, Kandhal Jadeja has decided to ignore the party's whip and vote for the BJP. All eyes would also be on the two BTP MLAs. In 2017, they had voted for the Congress and helped Ahmed Patel win.

This time both the MLAs, the father-son. Duo of Chhotu Vasava and Mahesh Vasava have assured both the Congress and the BJP.