Murshidabad violence planned by BJP: CM
Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a 'great liar', Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said that the violence at Rezinagar in Murshidabad on Wednesday was preplanned by the BJP.
Ahead of Gujarat Rajya Sabha polls on June 19, another Congress MLA Brijesh Merja on Friday resigned from the assembly membership.
The Assembly secretariat confirmed that Speaker Rajendra Trivedi has accepted the resignation of Merja, who was elected from the Morbi seat.
Merja has become the third Congress legislator to quit in the last three days. Before quitting as a legislator, Merja also resigned from the primary membership of the Congress.
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This development comes after two other Congress MLAs, Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary, resigned on Wednesday evening, Trivedi had said on Thursday. Merja is the eighth Congress MLA to quit the assembly membership since March.
Congress has fielded two candidates — Shakti Singh Gohil and Bharat Singh Solanki. While Gohil will be getting the first preference vote and is sure to get elected for Rajya Sabha, the fate of Bharat Singh Solanki, whose father Madhav Singh Solanki had been the Chief Minister of the state, hangs in limbo.
Senior Congress leader Arjun Modwadia has accused the BJP of using money and intimidation to lure away MLAs. “Akshay Patel has been lured away as he has business interest in mining,” Modwadia told news agency IANS.
The party had earlier nominated Rajeev Shukla but was opposed by the state unit and party fielded Bharat Singh Solanki, a former Union Minister.
The Congress needs 71 votes to win both the seats but now the number has reduced after fresh resignations while the BJP needs 106 votes for its three candidates and has the strength of 103 in the Assembly. So the BJP has fished into the Congress to gain the third seat, a party leader said.
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