Mr Chandra, talking to reporters this evening in Jaipur, said the MLAs are “secretly in touch with me and I’m going to win the Rajya Sabha election”.
Media baron Subhash Chandra, who is contesting Rajya Sabha polls from Rajasthan and is backed by the BJP, claimed today that he is already supported by 4 Congress MLAs. Mr Chandra also claimed that he is going to win the seat as eight Congress MLAs will crossvote in his favour.
Mr Chandra, talking to reporters this evening in Jaipur, said the MLAs are “secretly in touch with me and I’m going to win the Rajya Sabha election”. However, he did not reveal the names of Congress legislators supporting him.
The Congress, with 108 MLAs in the House, is all set to win 2 Rajya Sabha seats out of 4 seats from Rajasthan, while BJP is poised to win one. The race for the remaining one seat is on, with Mr Chandra in fray. The grand old party will try to retain the seat.
Having 71 seats in the house, the saffron party will have surplus 30 votes that’ll go to Mr Chandra. Mr Chandra also reportedly happens to have support of the three MLAs of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), a former NDA ally.
The media baron, despite the BJP and RLP’s support, will require eight more MLAs to bag the seat.
With 12 Independents and two from the CPM, the ruling Congress has claimed support of 123 MLAs. The Gehlot-led party, however, will need three more votes to be comfortable. The negotiations are reportedly on for these three votes with two MLAs of the Bhartiya Tribal Party.
Mr Chandra, in an apparent reach out to Congress’ top post claimant in the state Sachin Pilot, said Mr Pilot’s father, Rajesh Pilot, was his friend and Sachin has an opportunity now, as a “young and popular leader”. “He can use this as an opportunity to take revenge or send a message. If Sachin Pilot misses this opportunity, he will not be able to become a Chief Minister till 2028,” the 72-year-old Zee chairperson said.
Sachin Pilot, however, dismissed Mr Chandra’s statement as “laughable”. “He has been fooled by the BJP into contesting and he will be humiliated… Subhashji, this is not a TV series or entertainment. This is serious business,” Sachin Pilot told NDTV.
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