Fearing NOTA, Congress tells MLAs to back Ahmed Patel for Rajya Sabha

GANDHINAGAR: Opposition Congress has issued a whip to its MLAs to vote for Ahmed Patel as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Gujarat.

While confusion prevailed on the issue of NOTA (None of the above) option being available to the MLAs for Rajya Sabha elections this time, the newly appointed Congress chief whip Shailesh Parmer, in a statement, said that the whip only pertains to what should the MLAs do and not what they should not.

The whip issued to the MLAs makes it clear that the MLAs are to be present during the election and mark Congress candidate Ahmed Patel as the first preference.

The actions, which can be initiated against the MLAs for not abiding by the whip, have also been detailed with the whip, the statement added.

Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat have heated up with six Congress MLAs already deserting the party for the ruling BJP and some more reportedly planning to quit, jeopardising the reelection of Ahmed Patel, the political advisor to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for the fifth term.

Fearing “poaching” by the BJP, Congress has shifted 40 of its MLAs to Bengaluru.