6 Gujarat MLAs Resign From Congress After Vaghela’s Exit

The MLAs are to join the BJP soon and have arrived at the BJP’s office in Gandhinagar.

Three more Congress MLAs Mansingh Chouhan, Ramsinh Parmar and Chhanabhai Chaudhary have resigned from the party and handed over their resignations to the assembly speaker on Friday. With this, the count of Congress MLAs leaving the party has reached six.

Earlier on Friday, three Congress MLAs PI Patel, Balwantsinh Rajput and Tejashree Patel had resigned from the party, and joined the BJP, ahead of the state assembly’s two-day monsoon session on 8-9 August and the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections on 8 August. Soon after their resignation, the three MLAs arrived at the BJP office in Gandhinagar, where they were initiated into the party.

Rajput has become the BJP’s third candidate for the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, as per an ANI report.

The resignations are significant as they come close on the heels of Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela’s exit from the party, and his resigning from his post as MLA.

Also Read: Gujarat Congress in Crisis as Shankarsinh Vaghela Quits Party

All three MLAs submitted their resignation letters to Assembly Speaker Ramanlal Vora at Gandhinagar.

While Rajput has made an exit from all his positions in the Congress, Patel, a vocal Congress leader in the Gujarat Assembly, has resigned from the party and the legislative assembly.

Earlier, Rajput had been conspicuous in his absence from the Congress MLAs meeting prior to Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel filing his nominations for another term, as per a report by the Indian Express.

Rajput, an MLA from Sidhpur, had written to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in a letter, saying, as quoted in a report by the Indian Express:

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.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI, Indian Express)

Also Read: Big Blow To Congress as Vaghela Quits Months Before Gujarat Polls

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