Gandhinagar: Congress candidate Ahmed Patel on Wednesday scraped through to retain his Rajya Sabha seat in a bitterly-contested election in Gujarat. The other two successful candidates from the state were BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani.
While Shah and Irani's win was an almost foregone conclusion given the overwhelming majority of the BJP in the Gujarat Assembly, the 68-year-old Patel, the powerful political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, managed to once again make it to the Rajya Sabha, securing 44 votes and defeating Congress defector Balwantsinh Rajput, who was contesting as a BJP candidate after joining the party.
"Satyamev Jayate (Truth alone triumphs). This is not just my victory. It is a defeat of the most blatant use of money power, muscle power and abuse of state machinery," Patel tweeted soon after his victory.
"This is not just my victory. It is a defeat of the most blatant use of money power, muscle power and abuse of state machinery," added Patel.
"I want to thank each and every MLA who voted for me despite unprecedented intimidation and pressure from BJP. They voted for an inclusive India," he further tweeted.
Patel also thanked party president Sonia Gandhi for the victory.
He said it was one of his most difficult elections. "This was a tough election, but we fought it like a family."
The Congress leader added that the Congress party will be strengthened and emerge victorious in future elections under the leadership of party vice president Rahul Gandhi.
The high-voltage drama around the Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat had all the ingredients of a Bollywood potboiler. Several MLAs cutting across the political divide claimed to have voted for candidates belonging to the rival party, making the election to the three seats in the Upper House of Parliament from the state a cliffhanger.
Also See: How will Rajya Sabha Elections affect NDA and and UPA numbers
After the voting concluded in the Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday evening, both the Congress and BJP indulged in a war of words. While the Congress accused the BJP of playing dirty politics, the latter hit back saying that Sonia Gandhi-led party had no future.
The Congress also moved the Election Commission against two of its rebel MLAs who had allegedly voted for the BJP. After going through the video footage of the voting process, Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti and Election Commissioner OP Rawat declared the votes of two rebel Congress MLAs, Bhola Bhai Gohil and Raghavji Bhai Patel, invalid for allegedly showing their ballots to BJP president Amit Shah and union minister Smriti Irani.
The BJP was quick to react with state Deputy Chief Minister Nitinbhai Patel announcing that if required, the BJP would take legal action against the EC's decision declaring votes of two Congress MLAs as invalid.
