Balwantsinh Rajput, Prahlad Patel and Dr Tejshree Patel joined the BJP when party Chief Amit Shah arrived at state headquarters in Gandhinagar on Thursday evening. Vaghela had disassociated himself from Congress on July 21, a day after Presidential poll results revealed that 11 Gujarat Congress MLAs had cross voted in favour of the NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind. According to sources, more Congress MLAs, who are seen as staunch supporters of Vaghela, are likely to resign before the RS polls. Ahmed Patel, political secretary to All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi, needs at least 46 votes of the now total of 54 Congress MLAs. On the other hand, if those nine Congress MLAs again indulge in cross-voting, Ahmed Patel will have to bank on 46 Congress votes , two NCP votes and a vote of BJP rebel MLA Nalin Kotadia.

Source: Hindustan Times July 27, 2017 12:30 UTC