Its a nail biting finish in Gujarat. If neither of Balwant or Patel get the required votes in RS election , second preference votes of each MLA will be counted. That will mean it’s game for Ahmed Patel, given the BJP’s numbers. Two votes of Congress MLAs were declared invalid . Ahmed Patel won by 44 votes. One BJP MLA voted for Congress.
The Congress prevented a possible defeat for Ahmed Patel today as being seen as a loss of face for party president Sonia Gandhi, whose political secretary Mr Patel is. Both he and his party stress that his important party role has nothing to do with today’s election.
A win for Ahmed Patel has boosted the morale of the Congress ahead of assembly elections in a state where it has steadily lost ground to the BJP in the last two decades.
Equally, a win for the senior Congress leader will be a big shot in the arm for the party. Advantage in Gujarat.
