Five-time Gujarat Cong MLA joins BJP

In a major blow to the Gujarat Congress that has been facing internal dissent, its five-time MLA and senior Koli leader, Kunvarji Bavaliya, resigned as party legislator and joined the BJP on Tuesday. The former Lok Sabha member is set to get a berth in the Vijay Rupani government.

Bavaliya tendered his resignation as Jasdan MLA to Speaker Rajendra Trivedi after a brief meeting with Rupani at his residence early in the day. Bavaliya then headed to the BJP headquarters, Shree Kamlam, where he was formally inducted into the party by its state unit president Jitu Vaghani.

The move came as a setback to the state Congress, being run by a young leadership, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Within hours of the development, former Jasdan MLA from the BJP and Koli leader Bhola Gohil joined the Congress.

Bavalia who wields considerable clout in the Koli community, which constitutes over 22 per cent of Gujarat’s 60-million population, alleged that caste politics forvotebankbythecentral leadership was a hurdle to serve his constituents.

“Rahul Gandhi (Congress president) practises caste politics for vote bank. This didn’t allow me to serve my constituency. I have been carefully observing the way PM Narendra Modi is leading the nation towards development. I have faith in Modi, Shah (BJP president Amit Shah) and the state leadership,” Bavaliya said.

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