Ravi Shankar Prasad laughs off Congress' horse-trading accusation

In the wake of Gujarat Congress MLAs quitting and joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday laughed off the Congress' accusation that the saffron party was indulging in horse-trading ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for August 8.

Prasad said the Congress has become a sinking ship and is not able to hold their own house together.

"The Congress has become a sinking ship and the senior leaders, who did not get respect, are now openly saying that they don't want to continue with them. This is the hard fact. The sinking ship is not able to hold itself together," Ravi Shankar Prasad told ANI.

He said the Congress has been making baseless allegation against the BJP and further called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi to come up and clarify why their party is crumbling down like a deck of cards.

"They have to explain this. The allegations are laughable. They are making it in utter desperation," he said.

Earlier in the day, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, in a press conference, "Crores of rupees have been spent in horse-trading in Gujarat by the BJP. One Congress Gujarat MLA Punabhai Gamit has said he was offered Rs. 10 crore by the BJP to join hands with them."

The comments came after at least six Congress MLAs in Gujarat resigned from the party to join the BJP.

Two Congress MLAs - Maan Singh Chouhan and Sana Bhai Choudhari - offered their resignations.

Three Congress MLAs - P.I. Patel, Balwantsinh Rajput and Tejashree Patel - had also quit the party and joined the BJP.

Rajput is a relative of former chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela, who quit the Congress last week, while P.I. Patel was the Congress legislator from Vijapur.