Desertions across parties in Gujarat

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Ahmedabad, November 5

Announcement of the Gujarat Assembly election dates has triggered desertions by disgruntled leaders of various parties. Former Gujarat Health Minister Jay Narayan Vyas quit the BJP this morning while Congress leader and AICC secretary Himanshu Vyas resigned to join the BJP in the afternoon in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and state BJP chief CR Patil.

Talking to mediapersons at the BJP state headquarters in Gandhinagar, Himanshu said he decided to leave the Congress as he was stagnating in the party. “Since my student days, I was an active member who worked at the grassroots. Now I see that a handful of operators surround the high command. They don’t let others reach out to top leaders. There’s a similar situation in Gujarat,” he said.

Himanshu said there was no re-organisation of the party and many leaders and workers like him remained in a state of confusion. “I felt that I should join a party which is dynamic and where the leadership listens to the workers. A lot of people asked me why I made the shift just before the elections, and I told them that I have not joined the BJP for the elections, nor have I demanded a ticket,” said Himanshu, who switched loyalty a day after the Congress announced its first list of candidates.

While the BJP gained Himanshu, it lost Jay Narayan, who is widely respected for being one of the most articulate politicians in Gujarat. An alumnus of the Bombay IIT, the versatility of Jay Narayan is such that he has published scholarly work on the epic Mahabharata.

While Jay Narayan has cited personal reasons for quitting the party, in private conversations with media he said he was “disillusioned with the BJP”. AAP, too, suffered a setback when Indranil Rajguru, a key politician from the Saurashtra region who joined the party in April, rejoined the Congress. Rajguru, an aspirant for the CM’s post, left AAP after Isudan Gadhvi was announced the CM candidate.

Switching sides

• Former Gujarat Health Minister Jay Narayan Vyas quits BJP, likely to join AAP
• Congress leader Himanshu Vyas joins BJP in Union Minister Amit Shah’s presence
• Indranil Rajguru, an aspirant for the CM’s post in AAP, rejoins Congress