In a major jolt to Congress, 10-time party MLA Mohan Singh Rathva has resigned as a party member and legislator and joined the ruling BJP in Gujarat. The setback for the Congress comes just days ahead of the Assembly polls in the state.
Recently, Rathva had announced that he would not seek a ticket for upcoming Assembly elections but wanted the party to field his son Rajendrasinh Rathva from his seat instead.
The 78-year-old leader has sent his resignation letter to state Congress chief Jagdish Thakor. A prominent tribal leader, Rathva is a 10-time MLA and currently represents the Chhota Udaipur (ST) constituency in central Gujarat. Before 2012, he had represented Pavi-Jetpur (ST) constituency in the Chhota Udepur district.
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After sending his resignation letter, Rathva reached the Gujarat BJP office in Ahmedabad where he was inducted into the party by state general secretaries Bhargav Bhatt and Pradeepsinh Vaghela.
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Rathva's sons Rajendrasinh and Ranjitsinh also joined the BJP at the function. When asked if the BJP will give him a ticket for the Assembly polls, Rathva claimed he is "100 per cent" sure.
"However, I have not sought a ticket. I am getting old now. My son Rajendrasinh is an engineer. He is BE civil. He was having a feeling that we should join BJP," Rathva told reporters at the BJP headquarters.
When asked if he left Congress because the party denied a ticket for his son, Rathva replied he had decided to join BJP before Congress takes a call.
"The Congress never said that they will not give me a ticket (for my son). I decided before Congress said anything about it. I was impressed by the work done by the BJP government and PM Narendra Modi in our tribal areas. That is the reason why I have decided to join BJP," he added.
Gujarat will vote in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.
(With inputs from PTI)
