Gujarat RS Polls: PM Modi congratulates Amit Shah, Smriti Irani

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani for winning the Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha polls.

"Congratulations to BJP President @AmitShah & ministerial colleague @smritiirani on getting elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat (sic)," he tweeted.

The Prime Minister also wished Shah for completing three successful years as party chief and wrote it was under his presidency the BJP expanded its base and worked towards nation building.

"Congratulations to Shri @AmitShah on completing 3 successful years as @BJP4India President (sic)," he tweeted.

"During the Presidency of Shri @AmitShah, @BJP4India has expanded its base in several areas & diligently worked towards nation building (sic)," he added.

On Tuesday, after a high stake political drama in Gujarat Shah and Irani emerged victorious in the Gujarat Rajya Sabha election.

Meanwhile, Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel retained his Rajya Sabha seat by winning 44 votes.

With this Shah, will enter the Parliament as a member for the first time, while Irani will return for a second term.

Voting for the three Rajya Sabha seats was conducted on Tuesday, wherein the influential political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, the BJP Chief, Smriti Irani and ex-grand old party cadre Balwantsinh Rajput were in the fray.

After the intense political developments, the Election Commission (EC) declared results for the three seats of the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. Total 176 MLAs voted in the crucial elections, but two votes were declared invalid.

The EC, on late Tuesday night, declared votes of two Congress MLAs- Bhola Bhai Gohil and Raghav Bhai Patel- invalid. The decision was taken on a complaint of the Congress.

Earlier in the evening, Congress had complained to the EC and said that the two MLAs showed their votes to unauthorized persons and demanded their votes should not be counted and should be rejected.

Congress said these MLAs showed their votes to Shah and Irani and independent candidate Balwantsinh Rajput instead of a representative of Ahmed Patel.

Congress suffered major blow ahead of the RS polls when six of its Gujarat MLAs joined BJP. Panicked Congress sent its 44 MLAs to Bengaluru and termed the move as a bid to save its legislatures from the horse-trading by the BJP.

The Congress also accused BJP of offering Rs 15 crore to its MLAs to join BJP.

-ANI