3 Gujarat MLAs quit Cong, join BJP

Manas Dasgupta

Ahmedabad, July 27

Three Congress members of the Gujarat Assembly resigned from the House and the party and joined the BJP today.

Balwantsinh Rajput, MLA from Siddhpur and chief whip of the Congress, Tejashriben Patel Patel from Viramgam and Vijapur legislator PI Patel submitted their resignations to Speaker Ramanlal Vora in the afternoon and later headed to the BJP headquarters, Kamalam, where BJP state party chief Jitu Vaghani welcomed them into the party fold.

All three claimed they were feeling “suffocated” in the Congress where they were facing “injustice” despite remaining its faithful soldiers. They were also feeling pressure from voters in their respective constituencies who felt development in their areas had suffered because they were out of the political mainstream.

These leaders are considered close to former Chief Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela, who resigned from the Congress earlier this week. Sources said a few more Congress MLAs might quit the party before the August 8 polling for three seats to the Rajya Sabha from the state.

Some senior Congress leaders, however, claimed resignations by the three would be of “no consequence” as “people in the state have already decided to defeat the BJP this time”.

Describing PM Narendra Modi as “Vikas Purush”, Balwantsinh Rajput said he was happy to join the BJP to carry forward the state’s development agenda.

The BJP tonight decided to field Rajput as its third candidate in the RS poll. He will file his nomination as a BJP candidate along with party's national chief Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani tomorrow. Ahmed Patel, political adviser to Sonia Gandhi, has already filed his papers as the lone party candidate.