Balwant Singh Rajput will file legal petition to challenge EC decision: BJP's Bhupender Yadav

NEW DELHI: BJP’s Gujarat incharge Bhupender Yadav told ET on Wednesday that rebel Congress leader Balwant Singh Rajput — BJP’s third candidate — would challenge the EC decision in court. EC had on Tuesday rejected the votes of two Congress MLAs who had shown their ballot papers to persons other than their authorised party agent.

“It is clear that Rajput lost only because of EC decision, because of the loss of two votes. He will challenge that in court,” Yadav said.

He added the Gujarat Rajya Sabha polls had brought out the “anger and disappointment the Congress members had with the party” and it was clear from the way the party lost 16 of its MLAs. Patel won the bitterly-contested election in which Congress support came down from 57 MLAs to 44. “Our party fought really well. It shows in the numbers of MLAs the Congress party lost.” The result would not impact the upcoming state polls, Yadav said.

“We believe that the state wants stability and continuity and our party members will work towards that. Our party president in his last address to the Gujarat assembly made it clear that the party will work hard for the state’s progress. Congress has never done justice to the Narmada yojna or life of the poor and OBCs.”

BJP leaders that ET spoke with said the result would have been in their favour had EC not declared the two votes invalid. They said it was much likely that Congress “had deliberately planned to get the voted declared invalid” to reduce the requisite number to 44.