MillenniumPost
Big Story

3 Gujarat Congress MLAs resign, arrive at BJP office

Ahead of the two-day monsoon session of the Gujarat Assembly scheduled on August 8 and 9, and the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections on August 8 , Congress MLAs Balwantsinh Ra jput, Tejashree Patel, P I Patel resigned from the party on Thursday. While Congress MLA Balvantsinh Rajput has resigned from "all positions" in the party, Dr Tejashree Patel, who is an MLA from Viramgam assembly constituency, and one of the vocal leaders of the party in the Gujarat Assembly, has quit the legislative assembly as well as the Congress party. P I Patel represents Vijapur in the Gujarat Assembly.
After resigning from the Congress. all three MLAs arrived at the BJP's Gandhinagar office. These three resignations come immediately on the backdrop of Shankersinh Vaghela quitting the party and the post of MLA. Rajput was among those MLAs who did not attend the Congress MLAs meeting ahead of Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel filing his nominations for another term. The resignations also follows the cross voting by at least 11 Congress MLAs in the recently held presidential elections. The party has not identified any of the MLAs who cross voted.
In a letter addressed to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rajput who is an MLA from Sidhpur stated: "For the last few years, the Congress party has been trying to harm my reputation through my colleagues intentionally. Some party people have tried to hurt my reputation in the party due to my family relationships with Shankersinhji Vaghela."
"The Congress Party has to control the people who do such activities in the party as this shows lack of power. In this situation, my work in the Congress party has become unbearable. Due to this fact, I hereby resign from all the positions of the Indian National Congress," Rajput added while mentioning that he has been associated with the party since 1982 and is tendering his resignation with a "heavy heart." Rajput is rumoured to be joining the BJP in the coming days.
Next Story
Share it