Shankersinh Vaghela’s son joins BJP, yet another jolt for Congress

Mahendrasinh Vaghela had refrained from contesting in the December 2017 elections in Gujarat.

Published on: Jul 14, 2018, 11:15:54 IST

Ahmedabad | By Anonymous

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Less than 48 hours after BJP chief Amit Shah landed in Gujarat, his party received yet another shot in the arm with Mahendrasinh Vaghela, former Congress legislator and son of political heavyweight Shankersinh Vaghela, joining the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday.

In the run-up to the December 2017 polls in Gujarat, a couple of senior Congress leaders including Shankersinh Vaghela, had left the party. (HT File Photo)

Vaghela won from Bayad Assembly constituency in North Gujarat in 2012 and refrained from contesting again in the December 2017 elections.

In the past fortnight, Congress veteran and legislator Kunwarji Bavaliya and Rajkot strongman and former MLA Indraneel Rajyaguru resigned from the party.

Bavaliya not only joined the BJP but was immediately made a cabinet minister. And now it is Vaghela, who has followed suit.

Amit Shah, who has been credited for engineering these defections, landed in Ahmedabad on Thursday evening and performed the sacred Manglaa Arti to open the traditional Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath in early hours of Saturday.

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