Three former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, who were recently elected as independent MLAs in the Gujarat assembly elections, have extended their support to the BJP-led Gujarat government which won a record number of 156 seats in the 182-member House.
The MLAs -- Dhavalsinh Zala of Bayad, Dharmendrasinh Vaghela from Vaghodia and Mavjibhai Desai from Dhanera-- called on Gujarat governor Acharya Devvrat at the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar and informed him about their decision to support the BJP.
They handed over separate but identical letters to the governor ahead of commencement of the first session of the newly-formed 15th Legislative Assembly in Gandhinagar on Tuesday morning.
In their letters, the three MLAs said they decided to support the BJP as they were inspired by the pro-people work of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel.
The three legislators also met newly-elected Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary and conveyed their decision to support the ruling party.
All three were earlier with the BJP and contested as independents in the recently held elections.
The BJP retained power in Gujarat for the seventh straight term by winning 156 out of the total 182 Assembly seats in the state. The Congress bagged only 17 seats, five seats went to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), three seats were won by independents and one by the Samajwadi Party.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP retained power in Gujarat for the seventh straight term by winning 156 out of the total 182 Assembly seats in the state. The Congress bagged only 17 seats, five seats went to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), three seats were won by independents and one by the Samajwadi Party.
{{/usCountry}}Zala, Vaghela and Desai were associated with the BJP before their decision to contest as independent candidates. They had been suspended by the BJP for contesting as independents.
“Inspired by the public-oriented works of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Bhupendra Patel, I am extending my support to the Bharatiya Janata Party,” Zala’s letter said.
Ahead of the 2022 Gujarat state elections, the BJP had suspended 18 leaders who filed their nominations as independent candidates after they were denied tickets by the BJP leadership.
Zala, who belongs to the Thakor-Kashtriya community, was a Congress legislator from Bayad in the Aravalli district in 2017. He quit the Congress in 2019 to join the BJP. The BJP had fielded Zala in the by-elections for Bayad, but he lost to the Congress candidate. He had sought a party ticket to contest in the recent assembly elections and was denied ticket by the BJP.
Similarly, Vaghela, who was also denied a party ticket, contested and won as a rebel candidate from the Vaghodia seat in Vadodara where another BJP rebel and six term MLA was also contesting as an independent. The BJP had dropped sitting MLA Madhu Shrivastava to field Ashvin Patel.
‘’We have extended support to the BJP government for the benefit of the people of our constituency who we have consulted before taking this decision. I have been with the BJP since the beginning,’’ Vaghela told media persons in Gandhinagar.
Desai, who won the Dhanera seat in Banaskantha district, is the chairman of the Deesa Agriculture Produce Market Committee. He contested as an independent and wrested the seat from the Congress’ sitting MLA Nathabhai Patel.