Ahead Of Gujarat Polls, 11-Time Congress MLA Mohansinh Rathwa Joins BJP

Mohansinh Rathva, an 11-time Congress MLA, quit the party less than a month before the Gujarat Assembly election.

In a setback to the Congress ahead of the prestigious Gujarat Assembly election, senior leader and 11-time MLA Mohansinh Rathwa joined the BJP on Tuesday. Rathwa, who is the MLA from the Chhota Udaipur (Scheduled Tribes, or ST) constituency, joined BJP in the presence of state general secretaries Bhargav Bhatt and Pradeepsinh Vaghela.

Rathwa's sons Rajendrasinh and Ranjitsinh also joined the BJP at the event.

Rathwa, who had earlier claimed that he would not seek a ticket for the coming Assembly election, said he was "100 per cent" sure that the BJP would field him, PTI reported.

"However, I have not sought a ticket. I am getting old now. My son Rajendrasinh is an engineer. He is BE civil. He was having a feeling that we should join BJP," Rathwa told reporters at the BJP headquarters.

When asked if he left Congress because the party denied a ticket for his son, the senior leader said he had decided to join BJP beforehand.

"The Congress never said that they will not give me a ticket (for my son). I decided before Congress said anything about it. I was impressed by the work done by the BJP government and PM Narendra Modi in our tribal areas. That is the reason why I have decided to join BJP," Rathwa further said.

Gujarat will vote in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8 along with that of Himachal polls.

Earlier in the day, he sent his resignation letter to Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor and went to the Gujarat BJP office in Ahmedabad, where he was inducted into the saffrom fold.

Before 2012, he had represented Pavi-Jetpur (ST) constituency in the Chhota Udepur district.

A prominent tribal leader, Rathwa had recently announced that he would not seek a ticket for the coming Assembly election but wanted the party to field his son from his seat instead. Congress Rajya Sabha MP Naran Rathwa had also sought a ticket for his son from the same seat, PTI reported.

"After winning election for 11 terms, I am of the opinion that the youth should get the chance to represent this seat. I will not fight the next assembly elections," Rathwa had reportedly said.

Rathwa, who was a minister in the Congress government from 1990-95, had won against BJP's Arjun Rathwa in the 2017 assembly polls by over 1,000 votes.