Congress leader Bharatsinh Solanki was on Monday examined as a witness in an election petition filed by BJP leader Balvantsinh Rajput in the Gujarat High Court challenging the win of Congress candidate and senior leader Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha polls.
Rajput filed the election petition after he lost to Patel in the keenly-contested Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat on August 8, 2017.
Among other things, he has accused Patel of bribing Congress MLAs.
Solanki, who was the state Congress president during the August 2017 Rajya Sabha elections, told the court of Justice Bela Trivedi on Monday that unlike what generally happens, nobody had approached him with request for ticket from the party to contest the election to the Upper House in 2017.
He said the party consulted him before deciding on the name of senior leader Ahmed Patel.
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He said he agreed to be Patel's witness in the case after the latter requested him.
Referring to the July 25, 2017 meeting of MLAs held before the election, Solanki said he addressed the meeting at the party headquarters in Ahmedabad which he had called after consulting then leader of opposition Mohansinh Rathwa.
Solanki will be further cross-examined Tuesday.
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