The Congress camp which is short of just one vote is confident of the victory of Vivek Tankha as BSP has already issued a whip to its four legislators to vote in favour of him. (File photo)
With an aim to ensure victory of Congress nominee Vivek Tankha from Madhya Pradesh in the biennial polls to the Rajya Sabha, lunch and dinner diplomacy besides one-to-one contact with the party legislators is in full swing in Bhopal.
The polling for the biennial polls will be held tomorrow at Vidhan Sabha.
Senior Congress leaders and former Union Ministers Kamal Nath and Sushil Kumar Shinde are camping in the state capital to ensure the victory of Mr Tankha, who is short of just one vote to sail through in the polls.
"A lunch was on at the posh hotel in the city where Congress MLAs were present. Besides four BSP legislators were taking part in it," a senior Congress leader said.
Soon after the arrival of Mr Nath last evening in Bhopal, he interacted with all the legislators one-to-one at the state Congress office and also took part in the dinner at the party headquarters.
Mr Nath will be hosting a dinner in the evening for Congress and other legislators at his official residence in Bhopal at Shyamla Hills area, the sources said.
"Everything is going on perfectly and as planned. Mock polling will also be conducted so that legislators will not commit any error in exercising their franchise in the crucial elections," State Congress president, Arun Yadav told news agency PTI.
The Congress camp which is short of just one vote is confident of the victory of Mr Tankha as Bahujan Samaj Party has already issued a whip to its four legislators to vote in favour of him.
The Assembly has a total strength of 230 legislators. BJP had 166 members followed by Congress 57, BSP 4 and Independents 3.
However, with the death of BJP's Nepanagar legislator Rajendra Dadu yesterday and the Supreme Court's decision barring another party legislator Rajendra Meshram from voting, the party has 164 votes in its kitty now.