Setback for Rahul Gandhi: Alpesh Thakor quits Congress ahead of Lok Sabha elections

"The Thakor Sena, during the core committee meeting here late Tuesday night, passed a resolution to severe ties with the Congress. We have not consulted Alpesh Thakor before taking this decision," Jagat Thakor, a member of the outfit, told reporters here.

Picture credit: Alpesh Thakor (Facebook page)

Speculations were rife that Alpesh Thakor may quit the Congress as he was unhappy with the local party leadership.

The party also ignored Thakor Sena's demand for ticket to a member of the outfit from Sabarkantha Lok Sabha seat.

He recently met Congress president Rahul Gandhi and conveyed his displeasure against the functioning of the party's state leadership.

Ahmedabad: Bowing to mounting pressure from his outfit - the Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena, Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor on Wednesday evening resigned from all party posts and informed about his decision to Gujarat state party president Amit Chavda. The Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena on Tuesday had asked the legislator to resign from the party and clear his stand within 24 hours. Speculations were rife that Thakor may quit the Congress as he was unhappy with the local party leadership. Though he was keen to contest from Patan Lok Sabha seat, the Congress chose former MP Jagdish Thakor over him. The party also ignored Thakor Sena's demand for ticket to a member of the outfit from Sabarkantha Lok Sabha seat. "The Thakor Sena, during the core committee meeting here late Tuesday night, passed a resolution to severe ties with the Congress. We have not consulted Alpesh Thakor before taking this decision," Jagat Thakor, a member of the outfit, told reporters here. "After the meet, we told him to make his stand clear within 24 hours. If he wants to remain with the Congress, then he has to leave the Thakor Sena. And if he wants to be with us, then he has to resign from the party and as an MLA," he said. The Congress was "ignoring" the Thakor Sena while taking important decisions, including selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, he said. Though Alpesh Thakor heads the outfit, he was not present in the meeting. Alpesh Thakor had created waves in Gujarat with his strident anti-BJP stand along with Dalit and youth leader, and MLA Jignesh Mevani & Patidar leader HardikPatel who recently joined the Congress. Alpesh had initially formed the Gujarat Kshtriya-Thakor Sena, claiming support of 22 per cent of the population but he later expanded his outreach by launching the Ekta Manch, an outfit fighting for the rights of the OBCs, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. This is a much wider umbrella, encompassing around 70 per cent of the voters, according to The Telegraph. With the coming together of Hardik, Jignesh and Alpesh, the Congress hoped the Patel, OBC and Dalit voters might shift to it. After emerging as a prominent OBC leader in Gujarat, he joined the Congress before the 2017 Assembly polls and won from Radhanpur seat in Patan district. He recently met Congress president Rahul Gandhi and conveyed his displeasure against the functioning of the party's state leadership. The OBC leader claimed his community and supporters were feeling "cheated" and "ignored". He also said that some "weak leaders" were at the helm of party affairs in Gujarat, an apparent reference to state party president Amit Chavda. The MLA could not be contacted for his comments in the matter. (With additional information from PTI)

Published at : 10 Apr 2019 06:48 PM (IST)

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