Ahmedabad (Gujarat) : Former Gujarat Minister and veteran leader Jay Narayan Vyas, who quit BJP earlier this month, has joined the Congress party. He along with his son Sameer Vyas joined Congress party in the presence of All India Congress Committee (AICC) President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot here in Ahmedabad on Monday.
In his address, AICC President Kharge said "Instead of bringing change in the state, they (BJP) changed the Chief Minister and three CMs were changed in six years. That means they (BJP govt) have not done any work in the state."
The father-son duo switched from BJP to Congress, were felicitated by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Vyas quit the BJP on November 5 citing personal reasons. Then Vyas said previously that he would contest the election from Sidhpur but did not want to fight as an independent candidate. "I will fight the election from Sidhpur but don't want to fight it as an independent candidate. If there is no option left then I might fight an independent candidate otherwise I will form an alliance with any party I like," he said further.
The BJP, which is seeking its seventh term in office in Gujarat, has denied tickets to 42 sitting MLAs. The party also announced its big first chunk of 160 candidates and saw 38 sitting MLAs being dropped. Later, the ruling party also announced three more lists of candidates for the remaining Assembly seats. Several party bigwigs, including former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, former deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and party chief Patil had expressed the desire not to contest the upcoming elections.
In the 2017 Gujarat polls, the BJP had won 99 seats out of a total of 182 seats. The party has been in power for the last 27 years with Narendra Modi being the longest-serving Chief Minister of the state. This time BJP is aiming at getting its highest seat tally exceeding 140. However, it faces a stiff electoral challenge from the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has named Isudan Gadhvi as its chief ministerial candidate. Congress is also hoping to put its best electoral foot forward to unseat the BJP government. Gujarat, having 182 assembly constituencies, will go for polling in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will occur on December 8, which coincides with Himachal Pradesh's result date.
