Voting for four Rajya Sabha seats begins in Gujarat

Voting for the four Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat began here on Friday, where the contest between the Congress and the BJP is likely to go down to the wire as none of the two parties has absolute numbers.

The BJP has fielded three candidates for four seats, while the Congress has given tickets to two candidates.

The BJP, with its numbers, can easily win two seats, while the Congress can bag one seat. But there is a tough fight for the fourth seat between the two parties. Both the parties have expressed hope that all their candidates will win the Rajya Sabha polls.

BJP has fielded Abhay Bharadwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin, while the Congress has fielded Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki.

The Election Commission has made elaborate preparation for the conduct of elections as it is being held during the coronavirus pandemic.

Every voter (MLA) is being screened for temperatures and will have use mask and maintain social distance. For those with fever or other symptoms, a separate waiting room has been kept.

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Earlier, one MLA from the Congress and three from BJP had tested positive for coronavirus but all of them have recovered now.

As per the numbers, each candidate will require the support of 35 MLAs to win the seat.

While the BJP has 103 MLAs, Congress has 65, Bharatiya Tribal Party has two seats, NCP has one and independent candidate Jignesh Mewani holds one seat.

Although the total strength of the assembly is 182, its effective strength has come down to 172 as 10 assembly seats are currently vacant -- eight due to resignations of Congress MLAs and two due to court cases.

The counting of votes will begin at 5 pm.