7 MLAs, sacked by Cong, quit Guj Assembly

Ahmedabad, Aug. 11: Seven Congress MLAs in Gujarat, who were expelled from the party after they had voted against party candidate Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha polls, have resigned as legislators, Assembly Speaker Ramanlal Vora said on Friday.

Former Congress leader Shankarsinh Vaghela’s son Mahendrasinh Vaghela, who was among the seven to quit, said they would soon join the BJP.

Ahmedabad, Aug. 11: Seven Congress MLAs in Gujarat, who were expelled from the party after they voted against party candidate Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha polls, have resigned as legislators, Assembly Speaker Ramanlal Vora said on Friday.

Cracking down on dissidents in Gujarat, the Congress had on August 9 expelled from the party for six years former Leader of Opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela and the seven MLAs who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election on August 8. “Seven Congress MLAs submitted their resignation to me at my residence last night,” Mr Vora said.

The seven MLAs include Vaghela’s son Mahendrasinh. Two rebel MLAs Raghavji Patel and Bholabhai Gohel, whose votes were invalidated by the Election Commission, due to which the victory of the Congress candidate was possible, have also submitted their resignation.

The others who have submitted their resignations are Amit Chaudhary, C.K. Raulji, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Karmasinh Patel.

“I asked them if they are doing this (resigning) due to any pressure or threat, to which all of them replied in the negative,” the Speaker said.

“We have completed the formality of giving resignation from the post of MLA,” Mr Mahendrasinh Vaghela told reporters.

He said the Congress MLAs who resigned last night and three out of the six who had earlier resigned would soon join the BJP.

However, his father, who is among the eight who were expelled by the Congress, would not join the ruling party, Mr Mahendrasinh Vaghela said. The Congress had 57 MLAs in the Assembly until six of them resigned last month.

Meanwhile, the entry of Balwantsinh Rajput, who was its losing candidate, Tejashree Patel, and Ramsinh Parmar, among others into the saffron camp will be a big jolt to the Congress as they are leaders with a strong base and had won against the odds in previous polls, a senior BJP leader said, speaking on condition of anonymity.