Opposition strength, already at a historic low in the Gujarat Assembly, is further enervated as the month-long Budget Session begins February 1. With the resignation of Dharmendrasinh Vaghela, who had won the Waghodia seat in Vadodara as a rebel BJP candidate as an Independent, as an MLA, the strength of the members in the Gujarat Assembly is down to 178 out of 182, with 156 of the BJP.

Given that since around 2007, the time allocated for MLAs to participate in discussions on the Budget in the Gujarat Assembly is on a pro-rata basis, ie, on the basis of party strength, the Opposition is set to remain virtually unheard.

Vaghela’s resignation followed on the heels of that of two Congress MLAs and 1 of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), all three also quitting their respective parties. Besides, Chaitar Vasava, the AAP’s working president and leader of the legislative party, is likely to miss the Session as he is in jail facing charges of assault.’

The BJP had won the December 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections with an unprecedented 156 seats out of 182, with the Congress ending with just 17 seats and the AAP opening its account with 5. The three Independents who won were all rebels denied BJP tickets — Dhavalsinh Zala from Bayad, Mavji Desai from Dhanera, besides Vaghela — all three of whom pledged their support to the ruling BJP after the elections.

The Congress MLAs to have resigned include Chirag Patel, the MLA from Khambhat in Anand district, and C J Chavda, who was elected from Vijapur in Mehsana district. The resignation of Chavda, a three-time MLA, was a particularly major blow, given his position as a prominent Congress voice in the Assembly.

An MLA from Dediapada constituency, Chaitar Vasava is in jail in connection with a criminal case of extortion and assault. Although his bail has been approved, the AAP leader has put off the execution of the bail till his wife and co-accused Shakuntala does not get bail, which puts a question mark on his presence in the House during the Budget Session.

The president of a body called the Ex-MLAs’ Council of Gujarat, Babu Meghji Shah, says he still believes the quality of discussions in the Assembly can make up for the lack of numbers in the Opposition. “In the 1980s, when Madhavsinh Solanki’s government had 149 members in the Assembly, we were just 12 BJP MLAs in the Opposition benches. Yet, we raised our issues effectively.”

However, a senior Assembly official admitted that after the policy change allowing MLAs to speak on Budget discussions only on a pro-rata basis, “time allocation to the Opposition will be naturally reduced”.

“The MLAs can speak for any length of time while talking about Bills. But, for the rest of the discussions in the House, the time allocation will be on a pro-rata basis,” the official said.