Two other Gujarat MLAs quit Congress to join BJP
Gujarat MLAs Mansingh Chouhan and Chhanabhai Chaudhary have quit Congress to join BJP on Friday, a day after three other MLAs had quit the party and joined BJP. The resignations come days after senior Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela was sacked from the party. Notably, Gujarat Assembly elections for the 182-member House will be held by the end of this year.
A day after three Congress MLAs resigned from the party and joined the BJP in a huff in poll-bound Gujarat, two more legislators switched sides and joined the saffron party today. Vasda MLA Chhana Chaudhry and Balasinor's Mansinh Chauhan are the latest Congress leaders to join BJP. They have submitted their resignations to Speaker Ramanlal Vora. Chaudhary and Chauhan are believed to be close to rebel leader and former Chief Minister Shankersinh Vaghela, who quit as Leader of Opposition on his birthday on July 21, alleging that there was an intra-party conspiracy to oust him from the Congress.On Thursday, Balwantsinh Rajput, MLA from Siddhpur and Chief Whip of the Congress, Tejashree Patel from Viramgam, and Vijapur legislator PI Patel had submitted their resignations to the Speaker and later went to the BJP headquarters, Kamalam, to join the party. Within minutes of joining the BJP, Balwantsinh Rajput was named the third Rajya Sabha candidate of the BJP, besides national president Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani. Rajput was already rumoured to be planning to contest the Rajya Sabha election against official party nominee Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Balwantsinh Rajput's daughter is married to Vaghela's son Mahendrasinh, also an MLA.Tejashree Patel and PI Patel asserted that the Congress had failed to take a position on the demand of the Patidars (Patels) for reservation to the community in government jobs and educational institutions. "I have resigned from the Congress with a very heavy heart. I have worked for the party for 25 long years," Tejashree Patel, a firebrand woman leader and one of the most active legislators of the Congress in the state Assembly, bemoaned. "From top to bottom, there is intra-party politicking in the Congress. The party never took a clear position on the aspirations of the Patidars," she said. "I have joined Narendra Modi's journey of development," she added. Similarly, PI Patel also said, "The Congress has done injustice to the Patels." Balwantsinh Rajput echoed Tejashree Patel and said, "Modi is Vikas Purush." Rajput and PI Patel are from the North Gujarat constituency of Vijapur. Vaghela hails from North Gujarat too.