"BJP indulged in unethical politics and horse trading"

Rajasthan Pradesh Congress president Govind Singh Dotasara said that the BJP encouraged horse-trading in the Rajya Sabha elections by supporting the candidature of the media baron Subhash Chandra knowing well that it does not have an adequate number of votes to make him win.

“This is a move to assassinate democracy by supporting a second candidate. The BJP has a total of 71 votes only that could make its official candidate Ghanshyam Tiwari win. It would be left with just 30 additional votes that would still be short of the mandatory 41 votes to ensure the victory of the second candidate, but it has fielded Subhash Chandra and supported his candidature to encourage horse-trading. The BJP has been involved in adopting malpractices in the past and there are examples of Haryana and Gujarat. In Haryana, the BJP orchestrated inkgate that led to the cancellation of Congress votes which paved the way for the victory of Subhash Chandra six years ago. It tried to defeat late Ahmed Patel in Gujarat by effecting the resignations of a few Congress legislators, but the Congress defeated their ploys and saw Ahmed bhai win the key Rajya sabha election. The BJP plays the game of money power and misuses the funds for breaking the democratic norms and ethics”, said Dotasara.

Dotasara admitted that Congress has sent their MLAs and all those who are supporting the Congress candidature to a hotel in Udaipur. He said this has been done to prevent poaching and pressurising tactics by the BJP who are out to buy votes and win the second seat.

“We are alert and would do everything to safeguard our interest when the BJP is involved in the money-bag politics. Nothing could prevent the Congress in making our candidates Mukul Wasnik, Pramod Tiwari and Randeep Surjewala win”, said Dotasara.

Meanwhile, the BSP has sent a letter to Governor Kalraj Mishra and the Speaker of the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha C P Joshi to prevent the six former BSP MLAs from voting in the Rajya Sabha election.

The six BSP MLAs Rajendra Singh Gudha, Jogendra Singh Awana, Wajib Ali, Lakhan Singh, Deep Chand, and Sandeep Yadav had won the 2018 Assembly elections, but later the six MLAs as a collective decision merged with the Congress and were granted approval by the Speaker.

Bhagwan Singh, the state unit chief of the BSP said that the merger of the six BSP MLAs in Congress was an illegal act and it is being questioned in the Supreme Court. The apex court is yet to give its verdict on the plea of the BSP for their disqualification under the anti-defection law and till the matter is decided the six erstwhile BSP MLAs should be prevented from voting in the Rajya Sabha poll.

Bhagwan Singh said that the BSP has decided to prevent its six erstwhile members to cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha election. He said these six MLAs who have merged with the Congress should not be allowed to vote and the party would move a plea in the Supreme Court to prevent them from voting in the Rajya Sabha elections.

After the merger of the six MLAs into Congress, both BSP and BJP moved to the Rajasthan High Court against their merger but did not get any relief from the High Court.

PCC president Dotasara said that the BSP MLAs collectively merged with the Congress and the merger was approved by the Speaker. Now at this stage, the BSP cannot prevent them from voting in the Rajya Sabha election.

Dotasara said that the two Bhartiya Tribal party MLAs would also support the Congress candidates as they did it in the last Rajya Sabha elections. He said the BJP is spreading rumor that the two BTP members would abstain from voting which is not true. He said the BTP is against the BJP’s policies and would support the Congress candidate.

The BJP would need 11 more votes to win the second seat and for this, it is expected to indulge in horse trading relying on the 13 Independent votes, three of the Hanuman Beniwal led Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), two of the BTP and two CPM voters to ensure the victory of Subhash Chandra, the second BJP supported candidate.

The Congress has 108 of its own MLAs' votes and is supported by a lone RLD MLA Dr Subhash Garg, who is a minister in Ashok Gehlot Cabinet and the 13 Independents have pledged their support for the Congress to ensure that all its three candidates win.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is fully confident that all the three Congress candidates would come out triumphant in the Rajya Sabha poll.