22 more Gujarat Cong MLAs arrive in Jaipur

Amid fears of horse-trading ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, 22 Gujarat Congress MLAs arrived here on Monday, party sources said.

The Congress has been shifting its MLAs out of Gujarat after some of its legislators resigned from the state assembly.

"Nearly 60 MLAs from Gujarat have arrived here since Saturday. Of these, 22 came today (Monday)," the party sources said.

They said all the MLAs are staying at a resort on the Jaipur-Delhi highway here.

According to the sources, two All India Congress Committee (AICC) observers for Rajya Sabha election will also reach Jaipur on Tuesday and hold discussions with the legislators.

Five Congress MLAs have resigned from the Gujarat Assembly so far. Speaker Rajendra Trivedi has accepted the resignations.

The Congress was confident of winning two of the four Rajya Sabha seats going to polls in the BJP-ruled Gujarat.

However, its chances of winning the second seat appear bleak after these resignations.

In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP has 103 seats, the Congress 73 (before resignations). The Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) has two seats and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has one and there is one Independent.

Two seats are vacant due to court matters.

After the five resignations, the Congress' strength has come down to 68.

The BJP requires 108 votes to win three seats, while the Congress needs 72 to bag two seats.

The Rajya Sabha election is slated for March 26.