Shankarsinh Vaghela to exit Congress, but says won’t join BJP
Shankarsinh Vaghela announced he is on his way out of the Congress party while maintaining that he has no plans to join the BJP or any other political outfit
Gandhinagar: In a setback to the Congress, Shankarsinh Vaghela, hailed as the party’s tallest leader in Gujarat, on Friday announced that he is on his way out of the party while maintaining that he has no plans to join the Bharatiya Janata Party or any other political outfit.
Vaghela, who turned 77 on Friday, said that he will immediately tender his resignation as leader of the opposition in the Gujarat assembly and give up his membership of the house on 15 August, after the Rajya Sabha polls in the state are held on 8 August.
The former Gujarat chief minister was speaking before a gathering of about 10,000 people in state capital Gandhinagar where a function was organized to celebrate his birthday.
“I am going to resign today itself as the leader of the opposition. I will be a free bird. I am freeing myself from the Congress and am relieving the Congress of me,” he said while adding that he had been a victim of intra-party politics.
Not disclosing his future plans which he said will be decided later, Vaghela said his resignation should not be seen as his retirement from politics.
Vaghela said that his resignation is not binding on the MLAs who support him and added that they are free to decide their own future and join any party.
“I free my MLAs to decide their own future,” he said.
When he began his speech, the veteran leader claimed that the Congress had removed him.
“Before I could say something today, they expelled me 24 hours ago,” Vaghela said. He had earlier said that he would be making an announcement on his birthday.
Brushing aside Vaghela’s claims that he was sacked, Randeep Surjewala, the party’s communication in-charge, said that neither had the Congress party taken any disciplinary action against him nor had he been expelled from the party.
Vaghela’s decision comes after differences between him and senior party leaders surfaced over projecting him as the chief ministerial candidate. He has, however, publicly said that he is not in the race for the chief ministerial post.
“Vaghela wanted the present Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Bharatsinh Solanki replaced and he be appointed in his place, Surjewala said in a media statement.
This is a decision of the party and its leadership and no individual can decide, he said, adding that the party was bigger than individuals.
Vaghela invited all 56 Congress MLAs, two Nationalist Congress Party MLAS and one Janata Dal-United MLA to his birthday celebrations. The Congress had reportedly told all of its lawmakers to stay away from today’s birthday celebrations. While only a handful of Congress MLAs were seen at the event, the two NCP and one JD(U) MLA were seen with Vaghela.
On Monday, 11 Congress lawmakers in Gujarat voted for the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance candidate Ram Nath Kovind in the presidential election, instead of opposition-backed candidate Meira Kumar.
Earlier on 24 June, Vaghela while sending out a strong message to the party’s top leadership, hitting out at the party for not doing enough to win elections in Gujarat and said that he would not like to be on a team that has already made up its mind to lose.
As many as 36 MLAs (out of 57) had in April urged the central leadership to declare Vaghela as the CM candidate. On 20 June, Vaghela had said that he is not angling for the top post.
Vaghela expressed gratitude to All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi and said that he met her and thanked her for having supported him all these years. “I have assured Soniaji that I will not break her trust. I am leaving Congress but I am not going to join BJP,” he said.
Popularly known as Bapu, Vaghela was earlier in the BJP and played a crucial role in the party’s victory in Gujarat in 1995. After Keshubhai Patel was chosen over him to be CM, Vaghela rebelled and became CM in October 1996. He floated his own party, the Rashtriya Janata Party, which was later merged with the Congress.
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First Published:22 Jul 2017, 01:14 AM IST
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