Congress Counterclaim After Rajya Sabha Candidate's Crossvote Shocker

The Congress has made a counterclaim that two MLAs of the Bhartiya Tribal Party or BTP have offered to support them. The claim came hours after BJP-backed Independent candidate Subhash Chandra claimed eight Congress MLAs will crossvote in his favour.

The Bhartiya Tribal Party has three MLAs in the 200-member house, who are expected to back Mr Chandra.

But sources said the BTP MLAs along with their tribal leaders, met Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in Udaipur today.

Ostensibly, the talks were on tribal welfare issues, which were held in conducive atmosphere. But later, Congress sources said the BTP MLAs have said they will support the Congress in Rajya Sabha elections.

Of the four Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan, the Congress, with 108 MLAs in the House, is set to bag two and the BJP is set to win one.  The race will be for the remaining seat, which the Congress is trying hard to retain.

The Congress has claimed that it has the support of 123 MLAs -- among them 12 Independents and two from the CPM.  It, however, will need three more votes for a comfortable victory in three seats. Each member needs 41 votes to win.

Earlier this evening, Subhash Chandra claimed that four Congress MLAs are already supporting him and "eight will crossvote" in his favour and that he would win the election.

Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot has trashed Mr Chandra's claims, saying he has been conned by the BJP.

"He has been fooled by the BJP into contesting and he will be humiliated... Subhashji, this is not a TV series or entertainment. This is serious business," Mr Pilot said.

"No matter how many MLAs that (Mr Chandra) says they have, the Congress and all independent MLAs are together. We need 123 and we have way more," Mr Pilot said.