Parked at a resort in Udaipur ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections, the Congress MLAs of Rajasthan were seen enjoying a magic show last evening. The show was held at dinnertime.
Sources said "Jadugar Anchal", a well-known entertainer, was brought in, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot -- whose father happened to be a magician -- was also present on the occasion. Cellphone footage from the resort showed him enjoying the show with the MLAs.
The Congress had shifted its MLAs to Udaipur on June 2, saying it was concerned about possible horse trading by the BJP. More than 100 MLAs, including 12 of the 13 Independents and the three Congress candidates, are present at the Udaipur resort.
The state BJP has sent its MLAs to a resort for a "training camp", where they were seen doing yoga.
Of the four seats going to polls in Rajasthan, the Congress is set to bag two, with 108 MLAs in the House. Thereafter, the party is expected to have 26 surplus votes -- 15 short of the 41 needed to win the third seat. Senior leaders Mukul Wasnik, Randeep Surjewala and Pramod Tiwari are in the fray.
The BJP has 71 MLAs and is sure to win one seat. The party has named one candidate and is backing media baron Subhas Chandra, who is contesting as an Independent. The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), a former NDA ally which has three MLAs in the house, is also supporting the Independent candidate.
After choosing its candidate for one seat, the BJP will be left with 30 surplus votes, which will presumably go to Mr Chandra. Despite the BJP and RLP support, Mr Chandra will need eight more MLAs to win the seat.
The Congress has now claimed that it has the support of 123 MLAs – including 12 Independents and two from the CPM. But it would still need three more votes to be comfortable and for that they are eyeing the two MLAs of the Bhartiya Tribal Party.
In a recent interview with NDTV, former Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said the numbers are "in favour of Congress". He was also confident that the party will also manage to bag the third seat over which a tough contest is expected.
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