Gujarat election: 10-time MLA Mohansinh Rathva quits Congress, joins BJP

In a big jolt to the Congress ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections, its senior leader, Mohansinh Rathva, on Tuesday resigned as a party member and legislator and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), news agency PTI reported. Rathva sent his resignation letter to state Congress chief Jagdish Thakor.

After sending his resignation, the former Congress leader 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 is a 10-time member of the legislative assembly. He currently represents the Chhota Udaipur (ST) constituency in central Gujarat. He had represented Pavi-Jetpur (ST) constituency in the Chhota Udepur district before 2012.

Addressing the media post his induction into the ruling party, Rathva claimed that he is “100 per cent sure” that the BJP will give a ticket for the upcoming assembly elections. However, he said that he has “not sought a ticket”.

Refuting that he quit the Congress because the party denied a ticket for his son, Rathva said he had decided to join the BJP before the Congress had even taken a call on this.

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“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 told the media.

(With inputs from PTI)