MLAs supporting Cong gave BJP befitting reply in Rajya Sabha polls: Gehlot

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said the MLAs who supported the Congress candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls have given a befitting reply to the horse-trading attempts by BJP

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said the MLAs who supported the Congress candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls have given a befitting reply to the "horse-trading attempts made by the BJP".

He said they have set a new tradition and have defeated the BJP's money and muscle power.

The ruling Congress on Friday won three of the four Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan, overcoming the challenge posed by the BJP-backed independent candidate Subhash Chandra. The BJP bagged one seat.

Of the 200 votes, 199 were valid and one vote was rejected. BJP MLA Shobharani Kushwah cross-voted in favour of Congress candidate Pramod Tiwari.

Ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections, the Congress had shifted its MLAs to a hotel in Udaipur to protect them from horse-trading attempts.

It is Rajasthan's good fortune that be it the Rajya Sabha polls or a political crisis, the six BSP MLAs who joined the Congress, 13 Independents, two CPI(M) MLAs, two Bharatiya Tribal Party MLAs, and one RLD MLA have always supported the state government, Gehlot said in a series of tweets.

"They have given a befitting reply to the horse-trading attempts made by the BJP," he said.

"To give the state a stable government, these MLAs have supported the state government since 2018 because a fast pace of development is only possible with a stable government," he said.

Gehlot said these MLAs supported the Congress government without any inducements for the development of their constituencies.

"I am happy that in Rajasthan, these MLAs have set a new tradition wherein they have defeated the BJP's money and muscle power and further boosted the trust of the people of the state. With this victory, the prestige of our state has increased in the whole country," the chief minister said, referring to the Rajya Sabha poll results.

Congress candidates Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari and the BJP's Ghanshyam Tiwari were declared elected by the Election Commission late Friday night.

With this, the Congress' tally of Rajya Sabha MPs from Rajasthan will increase to six, out of a total of 10. The BJP will have four members.