Congress leader Ahmed Patel may lose RS seat after BJP fields its candidate

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel could struggle to get re-elected to the Rajya Sabha after three Congress legislators in the Gujarat assembly quit the party on Thursday. One of the three, Balwantsinh Rajput, who was also the Congress chief whip in the assembly, will now be a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections.

Three of the total 11 Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat retire next month. Elections to these three seats are scheduled for August 8. The three include BJP's Smriti Irani and Congress's Patel. On Wednesday, BJP had announced candidates for two of the seats. It