Gujarat: BJP mocks Cong as ‘sinking ship’, Singhvi warns deserting MLAs of ‘serious consequences’

The Congress on Friday accused the BJP of using “crores of rupees” as well as “muscle and state power” in Gujarat to engineer defections ahead of the crucial Rajya Sabha polls.

Stating that the party was keeping all its options open, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi warned MLAs of the “serious consequences” of anti-defection and anti-corruption laws that could bar them from contesting elections for up to six years and lead to imprisonment of up to seven years. He recalled court judgements that termed defections a “constitutional sin” and unprincipled defections a “social evil”.

“Crores of rupees have been spent in horse-trading in Gujarat by the BJP. You have seen this naked drama… The policy of the BJP in Gujarat is – by hook or by crook, come to power by breaking all laws,” he told the media here. The party’s comments came after six Congress MLAs quit the Congress before the Rajya Sabha elections for three seats, a defection that may impact the results for the party that had 57 MLAs in the 182-member Assembly.

While Amit Shah and Smriti Irani have been fielded by the BJP, the Congress has, for the third seat in the state, once again backed Ahmed Patel, …read more