SHANKERSINH VAGHELA QUITS CONGRESS
CLAIMS CONSPIRACY TO EXPEL HIM, SAYS WILL NOT JOIN BJP
AHMED A BAD: Former Gujarat chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela on Friday said he had quit the Congress, just after claiming that he had been “thrown out” of the party 24 hours ago.
Sporting a saffron scarf, Vaghela attended a public rally marking his 77th birthday but stressed that he was not going to join the BJP. Addressing the gathering, Vaghela also said he will resign as Leader of Opposition in the state assembly and quit as MLA after the Rajya Sabha election on August 8.
He claimed he was a victim of intra-party conspiracy because of which the party had shown him the door. The Congress, however, denied V ag he law as removed. “No action was taken against S hankers ingh Vagh el aji nor was he expelled. These are baseless arguments. It’s his decision,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
“Vaghelaji wanted to replace the current Gujarat chief. A party is always bigger than individuals ,” he said. A this birthday celebration sin Ahmed a bad, V ag he la was joined by a large number of Congress leaders and workers. This, despite the party’ s instructions against siding with the senior politician .“Congress party ne mujhe24g han tep eh lenik al di ya y eh sochke ki pat ana hi main ky a kehta (Congress threw me out of the party 24 hours ago as they were worried what I may say),” Vaghela told his supporters.
He said the party did not even wait to hear what he would say at Friday’s event before taking the decision to throw him out.