Shah makes his parliamentary debut at a time when M Venkaiah Naidu is set to take over as chairman of the upper House as the vice president-elect.The other two BJP candidates from Gujarat for the RS polls are Union minister Smriti Irani and Balwantsinh Rajput. Vying to retain his seat, senior Congress member Ahmed Patel is keeping his fingers crossed, thanks to the presence of BJP's third candidate at a time when half a dozen Congress MLAs have left the party in the state where polls are due later this year.Patel needs 45 votes to win. Congress has 44 MLAs, who have returned to the state after a stay at a resort near Bengaluru for over a week, and the party has been banking on the support of two NCP MLAs and one each of JD(U) and the now-disbanded Gujarat Parivartan Party. JD(U)'s Chotubhai Vasava has said he will support those who will give something to his constituency. Moreover, JD(U) is now in alliance with BJP in Bihar.

Source: Times of India August 07, 2017 20:39 UTC