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The Gujarat Congress suffered a double whammy on 8 March, as two of its senior MLAs, Jawahar Chavda and Parshottam Sabariya, resigned from the party.
Manavadar MLA Jawahar Chavda gave his resignation to Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi in the afternoon, while Parsotam Sabariya, who represented Dhrangadhra seat in Morbi district, gave his resignation in the evening.
Chavda joined the BJP at the party's headquarters in Gandhinagar, while Sabariya announced that he will join the ruling party soon.
With the loss of five MLAs, the Congress tally drops to 72 in the Gujarat Assembly, weakening their position in the state on the cusp of the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.
Chavda, 55, a four-time MLA, was inducted into the party by state Home Minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja and senior party leader KC Patel. Though speculation is rife that he would be made a minister in the coming days, Chavda and Jadeja dismissed the reports while speaking with mediapersons.
"As of now, he has joined the BJP only as a member. Chavda has not demanded anything for joining the BJP. The party leadership has not decided anything about giving him any cabinet berth as of now. I cannot comment about cabinet expansion at this moment," Jadeja said.
Sabariya was arrested in October last year for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe from persons accused in an irrigation scam in Morbi district in return for not raising the issue in the Assembly and with the state government. He was granted bail in February by the Gujarat High Court.
The former MLA claimed that he was not offered any ministership in the Gujarat government by the BJP.
In July last year, senior Congress MLA Kunvarji Bavalia had resigned as legislator and was then inducted in the BJP government as a cabinet minister. Last month, first-time MLA from Unjha seat of Mehsana, Asha Patel, had resigned from the House and party and joined the ruling BJP.
The Quint tried to reach out Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi, but he was unavailable for comment.
After reports emerged of him soon joining the BJP, Thakor addressed the media:
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, when asked about Thakor's induction in the BJP, said, "You should ask this to Alpesh Thakor."
However, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said the doors of the BJP are open for anybody who wants to join the party. "We welcome everybody who wants to join us and follow the BJP ideology," he said.
(With Inputs from PTI)
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