‘Rebel Congress Guj MLAs, except Vaghela, to join BJP’
Ten Congress MLAs in Gujarat, including the seven who defied the party whip and voted for BJP candidates in the just-concluded Rajya Sabha polls in the state, would join the saffron party soon, former Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela’s son Mahendrasinh said in Gandhinagar on Thursday.
However, his father, who was among the eight MLAs who were expelled by the Congress on Wednesday, would not join the ruling party, he added.
Of the 10 MLAs, eight including Vaghela and his son, who had voted for the BJP candidates in the Rajya Sabha poll, were expelled by the Congress on Wednesday.
“Apart from these seven MLAs, three others, who had tendered their resignations last month, will join the BJP in the days to come. My father is not joining the BJP. I thank the Congress for expelling us,” said Mahendrasinh, the MLA from Bayad in Sabarkantha district.
“All the 10 MLAs, including me, have discussed the issue and decided to switch over. We have already had talks with BJP president Amit Shah, state BJP president Jitubhai Vaghani and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani,” he told reporters. On August 8, eight Congress MLAs had voted for the BJP candidates in the Rajya Sabha election for three seats from Gujarat.
These MLAs were – Shankersinh Vaghela and his son Mahendrasinh, C K Raulji, Raghavjee Patel, Bholabhai Gohel, Amit Chaudhary, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Karamshi Patel.
Besides, six Congress MLAs had resigned last month, ahead of the election to the Upper House of Parliament. Of them, Balwantsinh Rajput, Tejashreeben Patel and Prahlad Patel joined the ruling party, while Ramsinh Parmar, Chhanabhai Chaudhary and Mansinh Chauhan were yet to take any decision on their future course of action.