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Congress picks new Gujarat unit chief, LoP
The Congress on Thursday appointed senior Other Backward Classes leader Jagdish Thakor as new president for its Gujarat unit and tribal legislator, Sukhram Rathwa, as leader of opposition in the state assembly.
After much delay, the Congress on Thursday appointed senior Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader Jagdish Thakor as new president for its Gujarat unit and tribal legislator, Sukhram Rathwa, as leader of opposition in the state assembly, indicating its strategy to reclaim its slipping OBC and tribal territories in the assembly elections next year.
State unit chief Manish Doshi confirmed the development to HT and said a formal announcement will be made on Friday.
The incumbent party chief, Amit Chavda, and leader of opposition Paresh Dhanani, had resigned for the third time, following the party’s debacle in the local body elections in March this year.
The duo had earlier put in their papers after the 2017 assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha elections but they were asked to continue. The party was getting increasingly decimated in Gujarat soon after an impressive performance in the 2017 Assembly elections. It had won 77 seats back then and is now reduced to 65 with the rest of the legislators having joined the BJP.
“The formal announcement will be made by the party leadership, but if given the responsibility I would surely pursue it with a missionary zeal,” Thakor said.
Confirming the developments, Dhanani said: “Change is the only constant. Leaders may change, but the mission is common. Both are very good choices and I am confident the Congress party would turn the tables on the BJP in the 2022 polls under their leadership.”
