S Jaishankar showers praise on Gujarat after winning Rajya Sabha bypoll; says state has increased India’s prestige

New Delhi: Expressing gratitude for having placed faith in him, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said he was “deeply honoured” to be elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar said, “Deeply honoured to be elected to the Rajya Sabha from the vibrant state of Gujarat. Express my gratitude to all those who have placed so much faith in me.” This comes a day after Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani claimed that BJP candidates S Jaishankar and Jugal Ji Thakor have won the Rajya Sabha election held on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_2097901” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. AFP[/caption] “External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Jugal Ji Thakor of BJP have been elected to Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. Official results yet to be declared, but it is clear that we have won,” Rupani had said at a press conference. However, official results are yet to be declared by the Election Commission (EC) for the two seats that fell vacant after Union Ministers Amit Shah and Smriti Irani were elected to Lok Sabha in the recent polls. State BJP president Jitu Vaghani claimed that parties part of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) also voted for the two BJP candidates in the polls. He had said, “The results will be officially declared by the EC. We were inside the counting centre and we have won. Not only BJP but parties who were with UPA also voted for our candidates”. Speaking at the press conference, Jaishankar thanked legislators for their support to him. “I want to thank everyone for the support. Like I said during my nomination, external affairs minister and Gujarat have a natural partnership. There is no such country where there is no Gujarati. If the prestige of India has increased internationally, Gujarat has a role in it,” he said. “For taking India from $ 3 trillion to a $ 5 trillion economy, Gujarat’s contribution is essential. Also, our partnership will play a big role in bringing investment and technologies that are needed for making India a $ 5 trillion economy, we have built a special relation,” he added. Elections for Rajya Sabha saw a dramatic turn of events on Friday, with Congress MLAs Alpesh Thakor and his aide Dhavalsinh Zala resigning after reportedly casting their votes in favour of BJP candidates.