Prominent Congress members from Panchmahal district, including those who gave a tough fight to the BJP in the 2022 assembly polls, are on the verge of switching sides and joining the BJP. This high-profile defection comes ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state on Saturday, where the group is expected to officially join the BJP.
The discontent within the Panchmahal district Congress unit had been simmering ever since the party granted a ticket to Lunawada MLA Gulabsinh Chauhan. Dushyantsinh Chauhan, a prominent Congress functionary from the district, had expressed his displeasure, alleging that Gulabsinh was a turncoat who had threatened to quit the party and arm-twist it to secure important posts and the ticket.
Despite Gulabsinh’s visit to Dushyantsinh soon after the row, the situation seemed to have settled down. However, earlier this week, Dushyantsinh and his supporters tendered their resignations from the party, citing the party’s lackluster poll campaign. At that stage, they had claimed that they had not decided to join any party and would make decisions collectively.
On Friday, Dushyantsinh met with Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, and pictures of the meeting went viral. Notably, BJP MLA from Shehra Jetha Ahir accompanied Dushyantsinh, despite being arch-rivals who had contested against each other in the 2017 assembly polls. In 2022, Dushyantsinh’s wife Rashmita Chauhan contested the Godhra seat against BJP’s C K Raulji.
Dushyantsinh stated that numerous other party functionaries from the district unit of the Congress and Shehra taluka units supported his decision. He criticized the Congress party’s functioning, saying, “The Congress cannot get results in the manner in which it is functioning. Party workers are left in a lurch due to the party’s approach.”
This development is a major setback for the Congress party, which has been facing a string of defections in recent times, including two Punjab Congress ministers joining the BJP and Congress leader Nilesh Kumbhani from Surat going missing and likely to join the BJP. The defections highlight the growing discontent within the Congress party and the BJP’s aggressive strategy to bolster its ranks ahead of the upcoming elections.
