Gujarat witnessed voting for two Rajya Sabha seats, vacated by the BJP’s Amit Shah and Smriti Irani, who were elected to the Lok Sabha in the recent national polls.

Given its strength in the 182-member Assembly, the BJP is expected to win both seats for which voting is being held separately. The Congress had objected to the separate elections, arguing that it will help the BJP win both seats.

While the BJP has fielded External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and OBC leader Jugal Thakor, the Congress has fielded Chandrika Chudasama and Gaurav Pandya.

Meanwhile, Rebel Congress MLA from Radhanpur Alpesh Thakor today resigned saying that he joined Congress trusting Rahul Gandhi, but unfortunately he did nothing. “We were insulted again and again. So, I have resigned from the post of Congress MLA,” he added.

Voting for the two seats, which started at 9am, continued till 4pm in Gandhinagar. The counting was held at 5pm the same day.

Three MLAs will not be able to cast their vote in the by-polls as they have been disqualified for various reasons in the recent past, election commission officials said. Four seats are lying vacant after their sitting MLAs resigned on getting elected to the Lok Sabha.