The two disqualified votes that helped take Ahmed Patel over the line

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel finally retained his Rajya Sabha seat after a long-drawn-out battle that ended in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

The "chief trouble-shooter" of the Congress has been a member of the Rajya Sabha since 1993 and had served in the Lok Sabha for 12 years before that.

Late drama

According to the Election Commission, the counting of votes was to begin at 5pm. With just 15 minutes to go for counting to begin, the Congress party raised an objection over two of its MLAs, Bholabhai Gohil and Raghavjibhai Patel, having shown their ballot papers to BJP President Amit Shah and asked for the cancellation of the two votes.

According to the rules, only the party agent assigned to the polls is allowed to see the marked ballot paper.

The counting was delayed by this Congress move as the returning officer of the polls was examining the video of the incident.

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said, "There is a legal ground for quashing of votes. The party has expressed its concerns and raised a complaint with EC".

With half an hour to go for midnight, the Election Commission disqualified the votes cast by two rebel Congress MLAs, overturning the decision made by the returning officer in the Gujarat assembly who had quashed the Congress plea.

The disqualifications meant that Patel was able to secure the 44 votes needed to win the election. The Congress may have been helped by votes from the JD(U) and the NCP. The exact voting patterns will become clear on Wednesday.

At 1:50 am, Ahmed Patel tweeted "Satyamev Jayate" to announce his victory.

सत्यमेव जयते

— Ahmed Patel (@ahmedpatel) August 8, 2017

"BJP stands exposed of personal vendetta and political terror. People of Gujarat will give them a befitting reply in this year's election," he added.