HC notice to EC, Ahmed Patel over Gujarat RS polls
The Congress' victory in the Gujarat Rajya Sabha polls was a fluke: party candidate Ahmed Patel won only because two votes by rebel members of the Congress were declared invalid. BJP candidate Balvantsinh Rajput, who lost a seat to Patel, then challenged his rival's victory in the Gujarat HC. Now the HC has sent notices to Patel and the EC over the matter.
What happened during the polls?
As per rules, a legislator can't show their ballot-paper to anyone, except to their own party representative. The Congress had alleged that two of its MLAs Bhola and Raghav Patel showed their ballot-papers to Amit Shah. Both Congress and BJP reached out to the EC, with the former seeking those two votes be declared void. After a high-voltage drama, the EC declared them invalid.
How did the EC's decision affect results?
The EC's decision meant the required number of votes to win came down from 45 to 44. Rajput had received 38 votes, Patel received a borderline 44. But according to Rajput, the EC had no right to interfere in the process and declare the votes invalid. He also raised the issue of Congress flying all its Gujarat MLAs out ahead of polls.
