Mumtaz Alam, IndiaTomorrow.net,
Ahmedabad / New Delhi, August 8: Described as modern-day ‘Chanakya’ though, BJP chief Amit Shah is set to be checkmated by Ahmed Patel of Congress party as the Election Commission of India, minutes before the midnight, has declared invalid the votes of two rebel Congress MLAs who showed their ballot papers while casting their votes in the Gujarat Assembly earlier in the day.
With the decision of the election panel, Ahmed Patel is almost certain to retain his Rajya Sabha seat from the state if he has surely got one vote each from JD-U and NCP – besides 42 from his party MLAs.
Amit Shah himself and another party candidate Smriti Irani are also certain to win given the strength of the party in the Assembly.
According to media reports, counting of votes for three Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat are likely to start soon.
Days before the election, six MLAs of Congress had left the party — three of them joined BJP. The development was seen as the big strike of BJP at the Congress top leadership. Patel is political advisor to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Ahmedabad, the old capital city of Gujarat, was built and made new capital of Gujarat Sultanate by Ahmed Shah I in 1411.
