The Rajya Sabha polls for three seats in Gujarat will begin at 9 am on Tuesday and continue till 4 pm. The counting of votes will start at 5 pm and the results are expected to be out by 6 pm.

Gujarat looks set for an on the edge of seat contest as Ahmed Patel, the influential political secretary to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will look to secure his fifth consecutive Rajya Sabha victory. However, Patel will not get a walkover this time around as he will be facing Balwantsinh Rajput, a former Congress leader, who switched to the BJP.

Patel’s trouble grew after the Congress, which has been out of power in the state for over a two decades now, was rattled by the surprise exit of party stalwart Shankarsinha Vaghela recently.

The party was jolted further when its six MLAs, including Rajput, a relative of Vaghela resigned from the Assembly. Three of them later joined BJP, setting off alarm bells in the party in Gujarat where Assembly elections are due later this year.

The beleaguered Congress flew its 44 MLAs to Bengaluru to ward off any threat of “poaching” by the BJP.The party was jolted further when its six MLAs, including Rajput, a relative of Vaghela resigned from the Assembly. Three of them later joined BJP, setting off alarm bells in the party in Gujarat where Assembly elections are due later this year. The beleaguered Congress flew its 44 MLAs to Bengaluru to ward off any threat of “poaching” by the BJP.