Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Just ahead of the Assembly election due this year in Gujarat, Congress receives two major jolts shaking the party’s morals.

The first setback the party faced was during the Presidential Polls when over 11 of its legislators cross voted for NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind. The cross-voting has brought into sharp focus the divisions in the state unit of the Congress, which is likely to see a section of legislators joining the BJP ahead of the state elections. Moreover, the cross-voting will also affect the Rajya Sabha polls for three seats.

The second blow that the party will receive on Friday is the announcement that opposition leader Shankarsinh Vaghela is going to make on his birthday. Shankarsinh is likely to quit the party along with his supporters including several legislators. His next move, whether to form a third party or again join hands with BJP after almost more than two decades will also be revealed during the celebration of his birthday.

Considering the options Vaghela might join Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which has two MLAs in the state and create a third front in Gujarat.

The decision to quit the party came after holding a few differences with Congress party president Bharatsinh Solanki and also the high command not paying attention to the demands of Vaghela. He repeatedly suggested the beginning of preparations for the assembly polls to Congress high command but was ignored every time. Few members also hold the opinion that Vaghela’s main demand is the removal of Solanki, but the high command has not yielded and so he decided to quit the party.

Shankarsinh Vaghela is holding a convention of his supporters in Gandhinagar n his birthday on Friday and has invited everyone, but Congress party has advised its leaders against attending the event. Responding to this Mahendrasinh Vaghela, Vaghela’s legislator son said that, “It is unfortunate that the party has asked all legislators to skip the convention. We will attend it and are prepared to face the consequences.”