Vaghela resigns as Gujarat MLA in presence of BJP leaders

Ahmedabad, August 16

Flanked by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and other BJP leaders, Shankarsinh Vaghela, who revolted against the Congress leadership last month, on Wednesday submitted his resignation as member of the Gujarat legislative assembly.

While Vaghela had ruled out going back to the BJP when he quit the Congress, the presence of Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and senior BJP ministers Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Pradeepsinh Jadeja when he submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker Ramanlal Voray has triggered a new bout of speculation.

"I was contemplating to resign as MLA for some time. I had a meeting with people in my constituency, Kapadvanj, and after informing them, I resigned as MLA today," he said.

On July 21, on his 77th birthday, Vaghela had announced his plan to break ranks with the Congress, which he had joined two decades back after leaving the BJP.

Vaghela's revolt triggered a political storm in poll-bound Gujarat, including the resignation of six of his supporters as members of the state assembly.

The resignation of the Congress MLAs came ahead of the keenly-fought Rajya Sabha polls on August 8, in which party leader Ahmed Patel scraped through, securing just sufficient number of votes to retain his seat in the upper house of parliament. — PTI