In yet another major setback to Congress party, the Gujarat Congress working president Kunwarjibhai Mohanbhai Bavaliya has resigned from the party and has joined BJP.
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Bavaliya is considered to be one of the prominent leaders of the Congress and he is also the member of Jasdan legislative constituency. It is said that he was not happy with the leadership of the party. It is said that Bavaliya’s decision to quit the party was a reaction to the Congress’ decision of making his junior Paresh Dhanani the leader of the opposition.
Bavaliya is known to be the leader of the Koli Community and enjoyed huge political success since he won his first elections in 1995 and continued as a member till 2007. He contested in 2009 general elections from Rajkot constituency and won the elections successfully.
In a meeting with the party president Rahul Gandhi recently and had expressed his displeasure. He also reportedly complained how he was deliberately ignored by the state Congress leadership.
In an earlier meeting, he accused both the BJP led government and his own party Congress of ignoring the Jasdan constituency. Interestingly, Congress MLA from Chotila, Rutwik Makwana and former Jasdan MLA Bhola Gohil, who had defected to the BJP during the Rajya Sabha election last year, were also present at the meeting and addressed the gathering.
Nitin Patel, the deputy chief minister welcomed him to the party. According to Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, Bavaliya was unhappy with the Congress. Bavaliya is also expected to be a part of the cabinet, as he was promised of a ministerial birth.
It is a big boost to the BJP, as Kunvarji Bavaliya being one of the prominent political leaders in the state, especially from the Saurastra region, where BJP performance was poor compared to other regions of the state. The induction of Bavaliya will be a game changer for the party to consolidate more seats from the region in the next general elections.