Two Gujarat BJP leaders join Cong

Ahmedabad, August 14

Two senior BJP leaders in Gujarat, a former parliamentary secretary Shamjibhai Chauhan and former Rajkot mayor Ashok Dangar, along with their supporters joined the Congress on Tuesday.

They were welcomed into the party by state Congress president Amit Chavda and AICC in-charge of state affairs Rajiv Satav.

Both Chavda and Satav said people were feeling cheated under the BJP governments at the Centre and state and that more frustrated BJP leaders would join the Congress in the coming days.

Dangar, who was formerly with the Congress but had joined the BJP ahead of the 2012 Assembly elections, said he had joined the saffron party hoping that he would do something good for his community — the Other Backward Classes.

But after six years in the ruling party, he only had “bitter experience” and was feeling frustrated. Chauhan said the ruling party had betrayed the expectations of the “Koli” community that had voted for the saffron party but got nothing in return. — OC